In a strategic move to bolster its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, Apple has quietly assembled a team of experts, poaching talent from its Silicon Valley rival, Google. Reports reveal that the tech giant has established a clandestine research facility in Zurich, Switzerland, housing this new team dedicated to advancing AI models and products.
Here’s what we know:
- Talent Acquisition: Apple has strategically recruited at least 36 AI specialists from Google since 2018, following the appointment of John Giannandrea as its head of AI. Giannandrea’s transition from Google to Apple marked the beginning of a significant talent migration.
- Secretive European Laboratory: The establishment of a discrete research lab in Zurich signifies Apple’s commitment to expanding its AI footprint beyond its primary bases in California and Seattle. This move underscores Apple’s intent to diversify its geographic presence in pursuit of AI innovation.
- Focus Areas: The Zurich-based team is actively engaged in pioneering research, particularly in the realm of large language models (LLMs), akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Apple’s endeavors focus on developing AI models capable of seamlessly integrating textual and visual inputs to generate nuanced responses, reflecting advancements in natural language processing.
- Evolution from Siri: Apple’s recent strides in LLMs can be traced back to its longstanding investment in Siri, its virtual assistant. The company’s decade-long research on Siri has laid the groundwork for the development of more sophisticated AI models, leveraging insights and expertise garnered over the years.
- Notable Personnel: Apple’s AI dream team boasts luminaries from Google’s AI domain, including Giannandrea and Samy Bengio, a former leading figure in Google Brain, now part of DeepMind. Bengio’s role as senior director of AI and ML research at Apple underscores the company’s commitment to attracting top talent in the field.
In parallel news, the European Commission has designated Apple’s iPadOS, the operating system powering its tablet devices, as a “gatekeeper” under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). This designation underscores the growing scrutiny faced by tech giants over their market dominance and control over digital ecosystems.
