US technology giant Apple has pulled off a major coup by acquiring the services of a high-profile AI expert from rivals Google.
The New York Times have reported that John Giannandrea who was previously head of search and artificial intelligence at Google has been tasked with the responsibility of leading Apple's machine learning and AI operations.
He will become one of 16 executives that will report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Apple's CEO told the newspaper that the incoming executives shared their commitment to privacy - and the thoughtful approach in their efforts to make computers smarter and more personal than ever before.
Whilst Apple's Siri virtual assistant has been around longer, its thunder has been stolen by US rivals Google and Amazon who have stolen a march in what is becoming a very important technology sector.
It was revealed in the article compiled by The New York Times that Giannandrea was apparently responsible for driving adoption of AI across Google's portfolio, including the creation of its own Google Assistant.
In addition, it was reported earlier this week that Google was looking to split its search and AI units, having brought them together in 2016 - and Giannandrea would step down as head of the combined operation, but remains with the company.
The paperthen said that after briefly becoming "perhaps the most eligible tech executive on the market", it then became evidently clear that the former Google SVP was "never really on the market".