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John Giannandrea to retire as Amar Subramanya joins Apple AI leadership
CUPERTINO: Apple is entering a new chapter in its AI journey as John Giannandrea, senior vice president for machine learning and AI strategy, announces he will step down and serve as an advisor before retiring in spring 2026.
In a major leadership move, Apple has appointed renowned AI expert Amar Subramanya as vice president of AI, reporting to Craig Federighi. Subramanya will oversee Apple Foundation Models, machine learning research, and AI safety and evaluation, bringing his extensive experience from Microsoft, where he served as corporate VP of AI, and Google, where he led engineering for the Gemini Assistant.
Since joining Apple in 2018, Giannandrea has been pivotal in shaping the company’s AI strategy, building a world-class team and driving innovations in Apple Foundation Models, Search and Knowledge, ML research, and AI infrastructure. With his retirement, the balance of his organisation will shift to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue to streamline operations and align teams more closely.
Apple CEO Tim Cook praised Giannandrea for his contributions, “John played a key role in advancing our AI work, helping Apple innovate and enrich the lives of our users. AI has long been central to Apple’s strategy, and we are thrilled to welcome Amar to Craig’s leadership team to bring his extraordinary expertise to Apple.”
Subramanya’s arrival signals Apple’s ambition to accelerate its AI capabilities, particularly in personalising Siri and other Apple Intelligence features. With Giannandrea’s legacy as a foundation, Federighi’s expanded oversight, and Subramanya’s deep technical know-how, Apple aims to continue delivering intelligent, trusted, and deeply personal experiences for users worldwide.
This leadership shuffle marks an exciting moment for Apple as it positions itself at the forefront of AI innovation while maintaining its commitment to privacy, trust, and user-centric design.
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UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
