Apple is hiring for its Answers team working on ChatGPT-style AI: Who all can apply?

Apple is quietly ramping up its artificial intelligence efforts with a hiring push for a new internal group called the Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI) team. Formed earlier this year, the team is working on building what’s being described as an “answer engine”, a system designed to give more helpful, context-aware responses to user queries, much like ChatGPT.

The AKI team sits at the centre of Apple’s renewed focus on AI across its ecosystem, especially within Siri, Safari, and Spotlight. It is led by Robby Walker, a senior director who now reports directly to Apple’s AI chief, John Giannandrea. Walker previously headed Siri development but was moved to AKI after delays in rolling out more advanced AI features to the voice assistant. Several other former Siri team members have also joined AKI to help push this new direction forward.

Job listings on Apple’s careers site show over a dozen open positions across the US and China for the AKI team, signalling the vision to expand its AI capabilities.

Who can apply: Apple wants seasoned machine learning engineers

One of the headline roles is for a Staff Machine Learning Engineer, focused on improving Siri’s ability to answer personal, user-specific questions using information from private documents, with privacy safeguards built in.

According to the job description, this role involves designing and refining large language models (LLMs), running experiments to test and improve performance, and building the data pipelines to support it all. The team is especially looking for someone who can work on fine-tuning models using reinforcement learning techniques.

To be considered, candidates should have:

• At least eight years of experience in machine learning or NLP
• Strong coding skills in languages like Python, Go, or C/C++
• Hands-on experience with tools like PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, or XGBoost
• A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science

The job also involves working closely with other product and engineering teams to bring these AI features into Apple’s broader software stack.

While Apple has not said much publicly about what the AKI team is building, it is clear the company is preparing to bring more intelligent and personalised AI experiences to its devices, in its own way, and on its own timeline.