Apple is reportedly on a hiring spree for robotics and computer vision researchers to work at a supposed new R&D lab in Switzerland.
According to a new report, Apple has already hired around ten postdoc and doctoral students from ETH Zurich, a science, technology, engineering and math university in Zürich.
Most of the researchers are specialists in visual navigation, suggesting that they may be there to work on the Apple Car project.
The news comes at a time when momentum on the Apple Car project has seemingly stalled inside Apple. A team that was once comprised of 1,000 people has reportedly been severely diminished, with former investigators now relocated to other parts of Apple, or even let go altogether.
Nonetheless, given Apple’s interest in AI-related fields like machine learning — and its expansion of R&D centers into new countries to take advantage of local talent — we imagine its Swiss employees will be put to good use, regardless of whether or not the Apple Car ever ships.
Recently, Apple has been loosening its classic ultra-secretive approach toward R&D (particularly in terms of AI) by engaging more closely with the academic community, and allowing its researchers to publish their work in machine learning journals.
Source: Inside-IT
Via: Apple Insider
