Laserlike founders leave Apple to return to Google

The exodus of Apple talent seems to be continuing. Four years after Laserlike was acquired by Apple to boost its web search technology, the founders have quit to rejoin Google, reports The Information.

In late 2018, Apple boosted its development of a web search engine by buying Laserlike, a startup founded by a trio of former Google search engineers to recommend websites to people based on their interests and browsing history. Four years later, Laserlike’s founders have returned to Google, “dealing a potential blow to the Apple team quietly developing search capabilities that might compete head-on with Google’s,” according to The Information.

At Apple, Laserlike co-founder Srinivasan Venkatachary was a senior director in the search team, which numbers at least 200 employees, according to a person with direct knowledge of the structure. The team, which has operated separately from the group in charge of search results for Apple’s App Store, develops technology for the Spotlight and Siri Suggestions search features on iPhones and Macs and helps improve answers for the Siri voice assistant.

On its (now discontinued) website, Laserlike said it’s built a web scale content search, discovery and personalization platform using advanced machine learning. The company said its content search “brings you the full perspective in a feed you can control.”

On Oct. 21, it was announced that Apple’s head of hardware design, Evans Hankey, is leaving the tech giant maker three years after taking the job, although she’ll stay on board for at least another six months. On Nov. 1, it was announced that Anna Matthiasson, Apple’s vice president of online retail, and Chief Information Officer Mary Demby, were leaving their positions at the company. In addition to Hankey, Matthiasson, and Demby, as Chief Privacy Officer Jane Horvath has departed Apple in recent weeks as well, taking a position at a law firm.