From Malcom Owen's "Apple's Director of Machine Learning exits over return-to-office policy" posted Saturday by AppleInsider:
Apple's director of machine learning, Ian Goodfellow, has resigned from the company after three years, in part due to the iPhone maker's policies about returning to work in offices.
The machine learning lead is leaving over three years after he joined Apple, as part of Apple's bid to increase its existing AI and machine learning technologies development. In an email to staff, Goodfellow confirmed the imminent departure.
While the official reasons for leaving are unknown, Goodfellow did let on that the policy change by Apple to get more people working from its offices was an issue. "I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team," Goodfellow wrote in the note according to Zoe Schiffer of The Verge...
Previously, Goodfellow worked for Google as a senior staff research scientist. He is also known for his work on Generative Adversarial Networks, or GANs, which put two competing neural networks against each other, so as to improve the accuracy of the systems.
My take: Every high-profile departure hurts Apple. In this case, however, the fellow spent more time at Google than he did at Apple.
UPDATE: From Twitter...
Pet peeve: “Apple’s director of machine learning” makes it sound like there’s only one/that Ian runs ML at Apple. But there are likely dozens, and Ian is likely 2-3 layers below anyone who can be characterized as in charge of all ML work.
The hairs on the tail of the dog will never be wagging the dog while Tim Cook is still the CEO. Wish him well as apparently he’s very well thought of by the bathroom mirror he looks into every morning.
WFH should be an employee benefit, not a right. WFH should be considered and used appropriately as the performance of job tasks and needs arise to afford employee flexibility in carrying out assigned job tasks to better balance work and family obligations.
The dynamics of work on-site, the diversity of worker interactions and the ability to cultivate constructive employee working relations with peers, supervisors and managers also go far in developing meaningful career advancement opportunities.
Again, there is a reason Apple built its $5,000,000,000 campus. Workers who do not understand that reason need not apply for work at the campus, or any Apple campus. This policy doesn’t mean workers do not have access to a WFH option. They do, but only to be used as an employee benefit when the need arises and is appropriate for the assigned job tasks.
If you want to read what he has done in the field check out the link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Goodfellow