Bloomberg News
Apple Inc. hired a prominent executive from rival Google to lead its artificial-intelligence efforts, an area of growing importance where analysts say the tech giant has lagged rivals in research and recruiting.
The company on Tuesday told employees it named John Giannandrea its first senior vice president of artificial intelligence, according to a person familiar with the internal announcement. Mr. Giannandrea who left a similar role this week at Alphabet’s GOOGL, +0.60% Google, will report directly to Chief Executive Tim Cook, the person said.
Apple AAPL, +1.03% didn’t have immediate comment. Google confirmed Giannandrea’s departure. The New York Times reported the hiring earlier.
The hire is the latest example of Apple’s work to bolster its efforts in artificial intelligence, or AI, an area of tech that is focused on developing software enabling computers to learn and improve functions on their own. The field is critical in areas like self-driving cars and voice assistants.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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