Apple’s secret AI lab filled with ex-Google staff

Apple has reportedly built a secret AI research lab in Zurich, Switzerland, called the “Vision Lab”, so it can build the best, ground-breaking AI models to rival competitors like Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft.

To achieve this goal, it’s been on a hiring spree to find the top AI talent in the industry, many of whom seem to have come from Google, as since 2018 Apple has hired over 36 ex-Google employees, most notably, the following two:

- John Giannandrea, who led Google Brain (which has since merged with DeepMind) and is now Senior Director of AI and ML research at Apple.

- Ruoming Pang, who led Google’s AI speech recognition research and now leads Apple's "Foundation Models" team.

Why has Apple built a secret AI research Lab in Zurich?

It’s believed that Apple’s decision to build this new, secret AI lab in Zurich follows the acquisition of two Swiss AI start-ups: VR group, FaceShift, and image recognition company, Fashwell.

But why have they kept this operation so secretive?

Apple’s Zurich operations have been kept quiet, with many unaware that the lab even existed, which is how they have approached its overall approach to AI: Although they’ve dropped hints and made claims that “AI features are coming soon”, they’ve preferred to sit back and watch, while other big tech firms, like Microsoft and Google, have continuously brought out new AI innovations.

The reason for this is unknown, but many speculate that it’s because they’re concerned about large language models (LLMs) and their tendency to give users misinformation or problematic answers, and are, therefore, reluctant to release something they can’t fully control.

But, it appears they’ve been quietly working behind the scenes on AI developments. Over the past decade, they’ve bought around two dozen AI start-ups, with insiders claiming that it's focused on developing AI that allows users to do “as much as they can on devices”, which coincides with recent reports that it’s working on on-device AI applications.

What will Apple's AI lab do?

Rumors are circling that the AI researchers at the “Vision Lab” are investigating and analyzing the tech that supports OpenAI's GPT, in its bid to develop and launch a more advanced (perhaps on-device) version, and other AI-powered features, in its upcoming iOS 18, which is expected to be announced in June, at the Worldwide Developers Conference.