Android is losing one of its longtime engineering leaders. Dave Burke, vice president of engineering at Android, said Thursday that he is stepping down from the role after 14 years. However, he is not leaving Alphabet and will explore “AI/bio” projects within the company.
Burke was involved in critical projects on Android, including the Nexus and Pixel phones, the development of Chrome for mobile, the launch of Android TV, and spearheading efforts to build and ship developer tools.
Burke’s move follows a series of layoffs and restructuring at Alphabet this year. In January, the company laid off more than 1,000 employees, including most of its AR hardware team, and in April, Google combined hardware and Android groups to focus on bringing artificial intelligence to all its devices. That latest decision led to Hiroshi Lockheimer, who led Android, Chrome and ChromeOS, exploring other roles at the company, and Rick Osterloh, SVP of devices and services, to oversee the new division. Sameer Samat, who worked under Lockheimer, became president of the Android Ecosystem.
In a post on XBurke said he will continue as a consultant as he looks for another project.
In a letter to his colleagues, which Burke also posted on LinkedInsaid he wanted to explore the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing drug discovery.
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to play a key role in accelerating drug discovery, with broad application, including in difficult-to-treat childhood cancer, a topic of interest to me. I am working with Sundar to explore related roles at Alphabet,” he said.
