Apple to Expand Seattle Office Focused on AI and Machine Learning Technologies

Apple is expanding its Seattle office which is focused on developing AI and Machine Learning technologies, reports GeekWire.

The company shared details about its operations in Seattle ahead of a $1 million University of Washington endowed professorship made possible by Apple's acquisition of Turi.

“We’re trying to find the best people who are excited about AI and machine learning — excited about research and thinking long term but also bringing those ideas into products that impact and delight our customers,” said computer scientist Carlos Guestrin, Apple director of machine learning. “The bar is high, but we’re going to be hiring as quickly as we can find people that meet our high bar, which is exciting.”


The Seattle office also has Apple groups working on Maps, iCloud, and iTunes.

Apple declined to provide any details on the size of the expansion but sources tell GeekWire the lease should be finalized soon. The company first established a presence in Seattle with the acquisition of Union Bay Networks in 2014. Last year it acquired Turi for around a rumored price of around $200 million. Their engineering team will be moving into Two Union Square as part of the expansion.

Guestrin says that users already feel an emotional connection to their Apple devices due to the company's design, interface, and user experience.

“But what’s going to make a major difference in the future, in addition to those things, for me to be emotionally connected to this device, is the intelligence that it has — how much it understands me, how much it can predict what I need and what I want, and how valuable it is at being a companion to me,” he said. “AI is going to be at the core of that, and we’re going to be some of the people who help with that, here in Seattle, but of course there will be tons of groups in Cupertino doing amazing things with that, too.”


More details in the full report linked below...

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