AI stalwart Samy Bengio has joined Apple after quitting Google.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has snapped up acclaimed scientist Samy Bengio after he left Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) following a highly visible fracas in the search behemoth’s AI department. (Yahoo News)

Samy Bengio quit Google last week amid rising discord within Google’s AI ranks, following the firings of former researchers Timnit Gebru and  Margaret Mitchell. The two women reported to Bengio. Google had later transferred the charge of his department to Mariam Croak.

While Google fired Mitchell for allegedly transmitting electronic documents out of the company, Gebru was let go after she refused to retract a research paper.

However, the two female researchers had also taken issue with Google regarding its diversity policies in the workplace and procedures for review of research papers. Apparently, Bengio had been supportive of the duo.

Bengio at Apple

According to Reuters, which quoted people familiar with the matter, Bengio will work under John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, and his past colleague at Google.

Bengio will likely head a new AI research unit at the iPhone maker.

He is credited for his contributions to the development of deep learning algorithms, an essential core of modern artificial intelligence systems. In his last role at Google, he managed hundreds of researchers in its famed Google Brain AI unit.

At the time of his resignation, he said he was leaving Google to pursue “other exciting opportunities.”

Bengio had spent 14 years in his stint with Google. His soon-to-be boss, Giannandrea, had worked there for eight years.

In recent years, Apple has been advancing its AI ambitions with a series of low-profile acquisitions – it bought 25 companies in this sector since 2016, according to CNBC.

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