Apple just landed the most sought-after free agent in Silicon Valley - and he'll report directly to Tim Cook

AP

• Apple has hired John Giannandrea, who was Google's head of search.
• He'll work on machine learning and artificial intelligence, and will report directly to CEO Tim Cook, according to the New York Times.
• It's a big victory for Apple as Giannandrea would be a hot commodity on the open market.

Apple has hired one of Silicon Valley's search and artificial intelligence gurus to bolster its artificial intelligence software, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Google's former chief of search John Giannandrea will join Apple and report directly to CEO Tim Cook, according to the report.

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"John shares our commitment to privacy and our thoughtful approach as we make computers even smarter and more personal," Cook wrote in an email to employees seen by the New York Times.

Giannandrea was one of the most powerful people at Google, overseeing the entire search organization. That means he's led teams that have used machine learning in products that billions of people have used.

That's the exact kind of expertise that Apple needs as Siri, its online assistant - basically a search engine you access with your voice - has faced increased competition from services like Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Apple's new smart speaker, HomePod, has also seen mixed reviews since launching earlier this year.

Machine-learning talent in Silicon Valley is in short supply, and qualified experts have been offered millions of dollars to jump from Google to other tech companies. So when Giannandrea was said to have left Google on Monday, he immediately became one of the sought-after free agents in technology - but it looks like Apple had him locked up the entire time.

Giannandrea does not have a lot of academic-style machine learning papers in his name, the Wall Street Journal reports; instead, he focused on applying machine learning to production products. But he is intensely respected in Silicon Valley, where he did stints at legendary technology '90s companies including Netscape and General Magic.

"He's an OG Valley technology visionary," Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen told Recode in 2016. "[He's] always on the leading edge; [I] always learn new things when I talk to him."

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.