Last Siri Co-Founder, Tom Gruber, Retires From Apple

Tom Gruber, who served as head of Siri's Advanced Development group and was one of Siri's original cofounders, has left Apple, reports The Information. His departure from the company was confirmed by an Apple spokesperson, who told The Information that he was retiring to pursue "personal interests in photography and ocean conservation."

Gruber created Siri alongside Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, releasing the original Siri as an app on the iOS App Store in 2010. Apple acquired Siri two months later, and Cheyer, Kittlaus, and Gruber all joined the company at that time.

siri voice
Kittlaus left Apple in 2011 and Cheyer left in 2012, and the duo teamed up again to create Viv, a new artificial intelligence project that was acquired by Samsung in 2016. Samsung used Viv to create Bixby, its current AI assistant platform.

Gruber stayed on at Apple for several years after the other two Siri co-founders departed, but with his retirement, none of the original Siri creators are left at Apple.

Apple's Siri team is going through a leadership change at the moment with the May hiring of John Giannandrea, former head of Google's search and artificial intelligence unit.

Apple just last week updated its leadership page to add Giannandrea, who is now serving as Apple's chief of machine learning and AI strategy. Giannandrea is leading Apple's AI and machine learning teams, and Apple has combined its Core ML and Siri teams under him.

Prior to Giannandrea's hiring, Siri development was overseen by software engineering chief Craig Federighi, who took over from Eddy Cue in 2017. Apple has been facing increasing criticism over Siri's capabilities compared to other AI-based personal assistants in recent years, with many suggesting Siri has serious shortcomings compared to options from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.

Apple in iOS 12 introduced major improvements to Siri through a new Siri Shortcuts feature that's coming in iOS 12, which is designed to let users create multi-step tasks using both first and third-party apps that can be activated through Siri.

Along with Gruber, Apple's head of search, Vipul Ved Prakash, has also left the company, according to The Information. Prakash joined Apple when his company, Topsy, was acquired in 2013. His search team was also within the Siri group.

Top Rated Comments

DakotaGuy Avatar
74 months ago
I bet if you ask Siri she won’t know he retired.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PickUrPoison Avatar
74 months ago
This is probably a good thing. I'm optimistic that they are taking Siri much more seriously with Giannandrea on board. I don't know that much about him, but Google is definitely doing some exciting work. Hopefully we'll see some "wow" moments with Siri in the near future like Google achieved with its phone call demos a few months ago. At any rate, I'm glad to see Apple realizing that they need an AI/ML chief. This gives me hope that Siri's days of being the village idiot might soon be over.
In hindsight I’m sure Cook wishes he’d never put Cue in charge of Siri. When Federighi took over last year, it didn’t take him long to realize they needed an expert to take it on.

They went and got “the guy”. A brilliant hire, of a brilliant man. And a guy who knows who the next dozen or hundred hires should be.

btw thanks for a relevant post, but we’ll be buried by the forum clowns.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yadmonkey Avatar
74 months ago
Sure, Siri isn't as competent as Alexa or Google, but she also isn't data raping you. I like that part.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
74 months ago
Siri will offer to look that up on the web for you... probably looping right back to this page.

Or perhaps look up something called TomGrouper and claim to not find anything.

Or perhaps show pictures of some guy named Tom with a catch of grouper fish.

Or since he's one of the creators, a Siri easter egg might proclaim him the greatest of guys who other guys want to be and girls want to meet.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DocMultimedia Avatar
74 months ago
The original Siri team got rich for good technology at the time, and stopped working on the day they were bought. Hopefully the new young/hungry team can get things moving again.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robbyx Avatar
74 months ago
This is probably a good thing. I'm optimistic that they are taking Siri much more seriously with Giannandrea on board. I don't know that much about him, but Google is definitely doing some exciting work. Hopefully we'll see some "wow" moments with Siri in the near future like Google achieved with its phone call demos a few months ago. At any rate, I'm glad to see Apple realizing that they need an AI/ML chief. This gives me hope that Siri's days of being the village idiot might soon be over.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
When To Expect New iPads Feature 1

Apple to Announce New iPads on March 26, Rumors Claim

Monday March 18, 2024 4:02 am PDT by
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
M3 iPad Feature 3

New iPads Likely to Begin Shipping in April

Monday March 18, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

iOS 17.4.1 Update for iPhone is Imminent

Monday March 18, 2024 5:27 am PDT by
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
Reasons to Not Upgrade to macOS Sonoma 14

macOS Sonoma 14.4: Reasons Not to Update

Monday March 18, 2024 9:36 am PDT by
Since Apple unveiled macOS Sonoma 14.4 on March 7, the transition to the latest software update has not been entirely smooth for everyone, and a number of issues have been reported by users that significantly impact their daily workflow. This article lists the most prominent challenges users have faced since updating to macOS Sonoma 14.4, and offers potential solutions where available. USB...