On April 30th, it was reported that Apple has hired dozens of artificial intelligence experts from Google and established a secret European lab in Zurich. Apple is assembling a team to compete with rivals in developing new AI models and products.
Since Apple recruited John Giannandrea as its Senior Vice President overseeing machine learning and AI strategy in 2018, the company has attracted at least 36 experts in the AI field from Google. This number surpasses the amount of AI talent Apple has poached from other companies, highlighting Apple's emphasis on Google's AI team.
These AI experts drawn to Apple are being distributed across global AI and machine learning teams to provide robust technical support for developing new AI models and products. In Zurich, Switzerland, Apple has set up a mysterious "Zurich Vision Lab."
According to Professor Luc Van Gool from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Apple acquired two local Swiss AI startups—VR company FaceShift and image recognition company Fashwell—which paved the way for Apple to establish a research lab in Zurich. The establishment of this lab signifies Apple's deeper involvement in the AI field.
While competitors like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon boast significant investments in AI technology, Apple has traditionally kept its AI plans low-key.
However, as Apple intensifies its efforts in the AI field, expectations for Apple's AI products are rising. Industry insiders anticipate that Apple's new ventures in AI may debut at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. This event will be crucial as the world watches how Apple showcases its latest achievements and strategies in the AI domain.
