The ongoing journalistic investigations into Apple’s AI challenges continue today with an article from The New York Times. This latest piece highlights an unexpected culprit for Apple’s difficulties in the AI space: Luca Maestri and budget constraints.
Decisions to Scale Back GPU Purchases Early in 2023 Hurting Apple’s AI Initiatives
Today, Tripp Mickle of The New York Times released a comprehensive article detailing Apple’s challenges in AI, Siri, the Vision Pro, and other areas. While it revisits many points from yesterday’s The Information report, it brings forth a particularly intriguing detail regarding Apple’s sluggish AI development.
Reportedly, John Giannandrea, who leads Apple’s AI division, sought approval in early 2023 to enhance the company’s GPU resources but encountered resistance.
As Mickle notes in The New York Times:
At that time, Apple’s data centers were equipped with roughly 50,000 outdated GPUs, significantly fewer than the hundreds of thousands of chips acquired by AI frontrunners like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta, according to insider accounts.
Mr. Cook approved a proposal to double the chip budget; however, Apple’s CFO, Luca Maestri, scaled this increase back to under half of the intended amount, encouraging the team to optimize their existing chips.
It’s striking that Maestri could exert such significant influence over Apple’s AI strategies, especially given Cook’s personal approval of the budget increase.
Mickle adds:
The shortage of GPUs meant that the AI development team had to rely on negotiation for data center computing resources from external providers like Google and Amazon. The scarcity of Nvidia’s top-tier chips forced Apple to use alternative chips produced by Google for some aspects of its AI projects.
DMN’s Perspective
Maestri, a long-serving CFO, recently transitioned to a more limited role, possibly as part of an easing into retirement.
Given Maestri’s crucial role in overseeing Apple’s financial decisions, it’s surprising that such a myopic choice was made not long ago.
The substantial increase in Apple’s R&D spending over the years, the significance of AI, and the company’s robust cash flow render a mere budget tussle hard to fathom.
Of course, this decision alone can’t be held entirely responsible for Apple’s gradual progress in AI. Mickle also points out ongoing leadership conflicts between Robby Walker, who previously managed Siri, and Sebastien Marineau-Mes, a senior software executive.
However, the decision to drastically cut Giannandrea’s request appears to be a significant misjudgment, especially with hindsight.
What are your thoughts on how much the GPU budget cuts hampered Apple’s AI initiatives? Share your views in the comments.
