Apple Israel CEO Roni Friedman Steps Down After Nine Years to Lead Global AI Chip Group

Roni Friedman, CEO and head of Apple's research and development center in Israel, is stepping down after nine years to lead Apple's new global Chip-AI group. This strategic initiative focuses on integrating artificial intelligence into the design and development of advanced chips. Friedman's successor will be Tal Inbar, a senior chip engineer at Apple who joined the company in 2012 following its acquisition of the Israeli firm Anobit. Inbar has led key projects including storage controllers, the Apple Watch chip system, the M Pro, M Max, and M Ultra chip series, and recently the development of chips for Apple's data center servers.

Under Friedman's leadership, Apple's Israel R&D center became one of the company's most important global development hubs. The teams there developed six generations of Apple Silicon chips for Mac computers, contributed to Apple's first dedicated data center processor, and advanced storage technologies for various Apple products. Friedman's move to lead the Chip-AI group reflects Apple's growing investment in artificial intelligence to drive the next generation of chip innovation.