Apple has lost roughly a dozen senior artificial-intelligence researchers in recent months, about one-fifth of the 50- to 60-person group responsible for developing the company’s in-house foundation models, the Financial Times reported. The departures include several scientists who worked on large language models and other generative technologies viewed as critical to upcoming product features. Most of the engineers have joined high-profile rivals, among them OpenAI, Meta, Elon Musk’s xAI and Canadian start-up Cohere, underlining the intensifying scramble for talent with expertise in large-scale AI systems. The exits add pressure on Apple as it races to integrate generative AI across the iPhone and its wider product lineup. Competition for researchers is escalating across the industry. The Wall Street Journal said Mustafa Suleyman, the DeepMind co-founder recently tapped to run Microsoft’s AI operations, has been courting his former Google colleagues with promises of higher pay and a more agile workplace. In a separate move, former leaders of Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer project have formed DensityAI, which Bloomberg says is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars to build data-center hardware for automotive and robotics applications. Taken together, the recruiting spree by Big Tech and well-funded start-ups underscores how scarce, mobile talent is shaping the pace and direction of the generative-AI race.