The talent war in technology just got the latest victim, courtesy of the tech giant, Apple. Abidur Chowdhury, who was a significant part of the team that unveiled the iPhone Air during Apple’s event in September, has joined a brand new AI startup called Hark. The new company has been making waves within weeks of launch.
This news, as reported by Bloomberg, not only confirms speculation but did so after rumors of his departure from Apple resurfaced two months ago, when it came clear that he had left the company for an AI startup. Now, we have an idea of where the individual is headed, and it is causing some stir in Silicon Valley.
Hark has been founded by Brett Adcock, and the name of the founder means a lot in the tech environment. Adcock is the current CEO of Figure AI and deals with humanoid robots and robots that resemble humans.
He is not quitting this position either but will take on the challenge of being the head of both firms at the same time. Either Brett Adcock is ambitious or trusts the team of employees he has been building – probably both.
What’s particularly interesting about the launch of Hark is that it has some real financial clout backing it. According to a memo that The Information had access to, Adcock has put in $100 million of his own money as seed investment for the new company. That’s not venture capital, that’s his own money, and it speaks volumes for whatever it is that he thinks he can accomplish.
What Exactly Is Hark Building?
Here’s where it gets interesting, and also a bit mysterious. Very little concrete information has been shared publicly about what Hark actually intends to build. The company’s mission, as described in that internal memo, is to build “human-centric” AI systems with some pretty ambitious characteristics.
These systems are to think proactively rather than just reactively, to improve recursively, which means the better over time they get through self-learning, but most notably, to place a strong emphasis on caring about people. That last point is particularly intriguing given the ongoing debates about AI safety and alignment with human values.
The memo also disclosed that Hark’s initial cluster of graphics processing units went live earlier this week. GPUs are the computational heavy lifters powering the development of modern AI, key to the training of large language models and other AI systems. It wasn’t clear from the memo how big the cluster is or what computing capacity it has.
High Stakes, Deep Pockets, and the Race for the Next Breakthrough
Chowdhury is not going to an empty office. When Hark was founded only a few weeks ago, it had already recruited a group of 30 engineers. But these are not engineers.
According to a report from Bloomberg. Certainly, the recruits have been poached from the biggest names in the technology sector. These include Google, Meta, and Amazon.
The hiring is not slowing down either. Hark is reportedly aiming to increase its engineering staff to about 100 in the first half of this year.
That is a rather aggressive plan, given the company is only just beyond its infancy stage and shows Adcock is certainly not wasting any time in building something of significance.
In itself, it’s an achievement that it can lure talented professionals even from companies such as Google and Meta. They are known for their competitive pay and groundbreaking initiatives, and it takes a tremendous amount of motivation in terms of pay or vision or a combination of both to lure them away.
Another Loss for Apple
Chowdhury’s departure is yet another data point for Apple in what is increasingly an unsettling trend. Silicon Valley is in the thick of a competition for seasoned design and AI talent, and even an organization as renowned and resourcefully strong as Apple can’t avoid losing key players.
Chowdhury’s role in the iPhone Air launch made him a very public part of one of the most key Apple product launches.
Typically, the industrial designers at Apple are in that tiny, select group that defines the physical form factor of devices used by billions of people in the world.
That any one of them would leave to join a startup, even a well-funded one, suggests again how strong the pull is currently for new AI enterprises.
High Stakes, Elite Talent, and a Mystery Mission
The question is, what will Hark deliver? With a personal budget of $100 million, a team of experienced engineers who work for top-tier companies, and computing resources beginning to roll out, the new company has a clear advantage. The problem, of course, is that this field has a plethora of challengers, with OpenAI, Anthropic, and other startups in pursuit of a breakthrough.
However, the fact that Adcock has experience with Figure AI gives a little clue as to his strategy, namely that he has a proven ability to found successful ventures in difícil technical spaces. It is unclear if his experience will translate.
At least for the time being, Hark is an enigma, one that the technology community is very interested in, and that has attracted some serious talent. We’ll be sure to keep an eye on them to see what they’re working on next.
