Microsoft Removes Top Chip Designer from Apple. Mike Filippo trades Apple for Microsoft. There he will focus on server chips for Microsoft Azure.
Filippo worked for Apple for over two years but has been active as a chip developer since 1996 and previously worked at AMD and ARM. According to Bloomberg sources, he is now moving to Microsoft.
There is no formal comment on his move by either company. But it is generally assumed that Microsoft wants to switch faster in developing chips for its Azure data centres with its arrival.
There is a trend where major technology players are developing their own chips specifically for their data centres, electric cars or AI applications. For example, at the end of 2020, Reuters learned from a good source that Microsoft wants to do this for its cloud solutions and its own Surface computers.
It is the second time that a key person in chip development has left Apple in a short time. Just last week, it was announced that Jeff Wilcox, one of the driving forces behind Apple Silicon, Apple’s chip infrastructure, is also returning to Intel.