It seems now that many of Magic Leap’s recently laid-off employees are helping Apple with its own AR headset ambitions.

Magic Leap was in hot water earlier this year, as reports surfaced that the well-funded startup was searching for a buyer. Although the AR company managed to avert disaster by securing another $350 million in May, around 600 full-time employees have reportedly been let go in its downsizing—presumably a direct result of the company’s failure to ignite a consumer AR market and subsequent pivot to the enterprise space.

According to an investigation of LinkedIn profiles by Protocol, many former Magic Leap employees have taken up residence at Silicon Valley’s most prominent tech companies, including Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.

Image courtesy Protocol

In the past six months though, Apple seems to have hired the most ex-Leapers, and positioned them into roles such as XR prototyper, computer vision engineer, and optical systems engineer—things you’d expect would have a direct effect on the development of an Apple AR headset.

The flow from Magic Leap to Apple has been a constant one too, Protocol has found. According to a broader assessment of LinkedIn bios, Apple has consistently been the number one place for former Magic Leap employees, with Facebook coming in a close second.

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Like with all things Apple, hardly nothing is clear about its upcoming AR headset. We’ve had our fair share of Apple rumors in the past, like the most recent one pointing to device’s name, price, and possible launch window, although there’s really nothing solid to go on yet.

What is clear: love it or hate it, Magic Leap has acted as a lightning rod for early AR talent who have hands-on experience with a full-featured AR headset, something that only a tiny number of companies can claim at this point.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Bob

    That’s interesting.

    What does Google need with former AR specialized employees?

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Well, they are still working on their AR glasses.

      • Bob

        Source?

    • Whatever it is, they’ll drop it in a year. lol

    • NooYawker

      All they seem to do is work on things behind the scenes. It releasing commercial products they have the most difficulty with. And it’s not for the lack of talent.

  • mfx

    As long as they don’t hire Magic Leap founder they are fine…

    • brandon9271

      I heard he’s found a job at a used car lot.

  • nejihiashi88

    brain drain at works

  • Jim P

    FOV matters. Right now it is enterprise.FOV matters.

    • A McHey

      I would not hire any of the directors from ML mfg team.
      They failed to deliver a product with a visio of next wave. Some of mfg managers seemed as they are working in a used car service shop.
      One could see the end of the business in early 2018.