Apple’s machine learning chief, Ian Goodfellow, resigned from the company after three years, in part because of the iPhone maker’s policy on returning to the office. The machine learning executive is leaving after more than three years at Apple. In an email to employees, Goodfellow confirmed the impending departure.
While the official reason for the departure is unknown, Goodfellow did say that Apple’s policy change to allow more people to work in the office was an issue. “I firmly believe that more flexibility is the best policy for my team,” Goodfellow wrote in an email, according to The Verge’s Zoe Schiffer.
According to Goodfellow’s LinkedIn profile, they joined Apple in March 2019 as director of machine learning for the special projects group. The profile has not been updated with information on departures.
Previously, Goodfellow worked at Google as a Senior Staff Research Scientist. He is also known for his work on Generative Adversarial Networks, which bring together two competing neural networks to improve the accuracy of a system.
The controversial policy saw Apple set employees to work in various offices starting April 11, starting with a hybrid work plan with one day a week in the office, and then gradually increasing the number of days in the office over time.
Not all Apple employees are enthusiastic about the plan. A survey of a minority of employees found a high percentage of employees were actively looking for work elsewhere, with return-to-office policies, the potential for COVID-19 infection, toxic company culture and lack of work-life balance all cited as needed The reason to keep going.