--- title: "Genius Zuckerberg Poaches Guy Responsible for [Checks Notes] the Disastrous Apple Intelligence" description: "Amid his ill-begotten quest to build artificial superintelligence, Mark Zuckerberg is not showing much of his own. " date: "2025-07-09" modified: "2025-07-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/zuckerberg-poaches-apple-intelligence-guy" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Meta" tags: - "apple" - "apple intelligence" - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" --- # Genius Zuckerberg Poaches Guy Responsible for \[Checks Notes\] the Disastrous Apple Intelligence ![Amid his ill-begotten quest to build artificial superintelligence, Mark Zuckerberg is not showing much of his own. ]() *\Image: Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty / Futurism\* Amid his [dubious quest]() to build artificial superintelligence, Mark Zuckerberg isn't showing much of his own. As [*Bloomberg* reports](), the Meta CEO's latest successful catch for his new "[Superintelligence]()" lab is one Ruoming Pang, the former head of Apple's AI efforts — which, while certainly an impressive résumé booster, is the outfit that oversaw Apple's extremely underwhelming "Apple Intelligence" software. The latest in a string of high-profile poachings to help fulfill Zuckerberg's deep-seated desire to compete with OpenAI, Pang was, as *Bloomberg*'s insider sources claim, offered a hefty signing package worth tens of millions of dollars per year in compensation. Prior to joining Apple's AI division in 2021, Pang, [per his LinkedIn](), worked at Google for 15 years on its AI and machine learning endeavors. That background lends a bit more credibility to the pricey hire, the most recent in Zuckerberg's [superintelligence hiring spree](), but it still doesn't make up for the fact that Apple Intelligence has been a pretty resounding dud compared to its competitors across the tech industry. Introduced last fall, the iPhone maker's AI efforts garnered lots of bad press early on after it kept [butchering headlines]() and even [spreading outright falsehoods]() when "summarizing" news reports that were pushed out to millions of users. Things got so bad that [Apple halted the AI news summary feature]() in January of this year, and it soon [emerged that]() Apple engineers published a paper warning of how buggy the tech was before its launch — but the Tim Cook-run company decided to release it anyway. Along with the crappy news summaries, [Apple Intelligence was supposed include]() video and image generating tools drawing from your own iCloud, notification summaries, and an AI-powered Siri overhaul — the latter of which the company has [dramatically pushed back]() after initially making big promises. As [*Bloomberg* revealed earlier this month](), Apple dropped that bag so spectacularly that it's considering just [letting OpenAI power Siri](), which still has not gotten its long-promised AI overhaul. The lengthy wait for AI Siri has chagrined jilted investors and customers alike — some of whom have [filed lawsuits]() claiming that Apple mislead consumers when charging $799 for a new iPhone with the new and improved Siri, only to not deliver on that AI promise. Last month, executives were caught tongue-tied when trying to [explain to the *Wall Street Journal*]() why the AI project has failed so spectacularly. "We wanted it to be really, really reliable," Craig Federighi, the company's software czar, told reporter Joanna Stern. "And we weren't able to achieve the reliability in the time we thought." Obviously, Pang doesn't shoulder *all* the blame for the Apple Intelligence debacle — he led a team of 100 people at the company, per *Bloomberg*'s new reporting — but it's curious that Zuckerberg is shelling out so much money for a guy whose most recent job included overseeing such a massive embarrassment. **More on Meta:** [*Zuckerberg's Employees Have a Wild New Nickname for Him*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()