An Apple executive who oversaw Apple's machine learning and artificial intelligence efforts has left the company in recent weeks, citing its stringent return-to-office policy, according to Bloomberg. Ian Goodfellow is now reportedly joining Google's DeepMind team as an individual contributor, a few years after he left the tech giant for Apple. Based on his LinkedIn profile, Goodfellow worked in different capacities for Google since 2013, including as a research scientist and as a software engineering intern. Bloomberg says the former Apple exec referenced the policy in a note about his departure addressed to staff members. In April, Apple announced that it was going to start implementing its return-to-office policy on May 23rd and will be requiring employees to work in its offices at least three times a week.

A top artificial intelligence executive at Apple is leaving the company over its return-to-office policy, according to a report. The news comes as Apple orders all corporate employees to return to the office for three days per week -- a stricter policy than Big Tech competitors like Meta, Google and Amazon, which are allowing at least some employees to work remotely forever. Director of machine learning Ian Goodfellow announced his resignation last week, telling colleagues that CEO Tim Cook's push to get employees back into the office had driven him out. "I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team," Goodfellow wrote in a goodbye note, according to Verge reporter Zoe Schiffer. Several Apple employees confirmed Goodfellow's departure on corporate gossip site Blind.