In what seems to be another indication that Cupertino is pushing into the automobile industry, Apple has just hired NVIDIA's Artificial Intelligent expert Jonathan Cohen. NVIDIA is widely popular for gamers and PC enthusiasts alike, but the giant graphic card manufacturer has recently dabbled into self-driving automobiles.
Jonathan Cohen was the previous director of NVIDIA's deep learning, an Artificial Intelligence branch that has been highly regarded in technological companies with its ability to train computers analyze process patterns within large reams of visual data. NVIDIA had recently used this technique for automobiles, and the company is selling its products to automobile manufacturers that will use it to power the autonomous cars they make.
Cohen had already made the change in his LinkedIn profile, with his employment in NVIDIA ending in October and beginning his work in Apple. However, his exact role in Apple still has not been specified, with the only indication to it is his job as "Software" in his profile.
"This is a big hire for Apple," said Chris Nicholson, co-founder of deep learning startup Skymind.io. "Nvidia's GPUs are being used to power auto-pilot systems in cars, so the implications are pretty clear."
Apple CEO Time Cook last week had said that a "massive change" is coming to the automotive industry, although he did not specify as to whether the company will be playing a major role in that change. According to cook, Apple is working to bring the "iPhone experience" to cars through its CarPlay. "We'll see what we do in the future," he later added.
NVIDIA has played a primary role in providing computer graphics cards for PC gamers, but its automotive unit has also been racking up huge revenues at USD $183 million in the company's most recent fiscal year. Apple, on the other hand, is currently using deep learning tech for its mapping service and its personal assistant Siri.
