What you need to know
- Ian Goodfellow is joining Google.
- The executive left Apple due to its hybrid work policy.
- Goodfellow is reportedly joining Alphabet's DeepMind division.
A high-profile Apple executive who recently left the company over its hybrid work policy is joining Google.
As reported by Bloomberg, Ian Goodfellow, the executive who oversaw machine learning and artificial intelligence at Apple, recently left due to Apple's lack of a fully remote work option for its corporate employees. The executive is now joining the DeepMind division at Google.
Goodfellow's jump to Google is a coup for the DeepMind division, which is bringing him on as an individual contributor, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the hiring isn't yet public. Goodfellow is known as one of the foremost machine learning researchers, and the move is a reunion of sorts. He worked as a senior researcher at Google until 2019.DeepMind declined to comment on the hire. Alphabet's return-to-office policy is generally looser than Apple's. Though the search-engine giant is also asking employees to come back to the office, it's approving exemptions for most employees seeking to work from home. Goodfellow hasn't yet started the new job.
Goodfellow left due to Apple's hybrid work policy for its corporate employees which requires them to work in the office for three days per week. The company has one of the least friendly remote work policies when compared to other major technology companies like Alphabet and Meta.
Speaking of that hybrid work policy, Apple announced today that it is delaying that return to the office for three days per week due to the rise of COVID cases across the United States. Apple Store employees are also now required to once again wear a mask at the company's retail locations in the country.
