In tit for tat, AMD grabs Apple chip designer
This month an Apple chip designer goes to AMD. Last month it was an AMD chip guy joining Apple.
Fast on the heels of Apple nabbing a designer from chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, AMD turned around today and hired an Apple chip architect.
Jim Keller, 53, will join AMD as a corporate vice president and chief architect of AMD's microprocessor cores, reporting to Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster, another former Apple employee.
"Keller will lead AMD's microprocessor core design efforts...with a focus on developing both high-performance and low-power processor cores that will be the foundation of AMD's future products," AMD said in a statement.
Keller had been a director in the platform architecture group at Apple. There he designed mobile chips, including those used in the iPad, iPhone, iPod, and Apple TV.
Apple recently hired a system-on-a-chip expert away from AMD.
Before Apple, Keller was vice president of design for P.A. Semi, a chip-design firm specializing in low-power mobile processors. P.A. was acquired by Apple in 2008.
This isn't Keller's first stint at AMD. Prior to Apple and P.A. Semi, Keller worked on AMD's Athlon 64 and AMD Opteron 64 processors.
He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University.