Apple Hires Amazon Exec to Supervise Siri

Apple just hired an  Amazon executive to run Siri, it's voice-recognition system, according to reports.

William Stasior was in charge of A9, or Amazon's search and search advertising unit which he co-founded, according to AllThingsD. Stasior was also previously an AltaVista executive. He has a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has been working for Amazon since 2003.

There's been some speculation that without many of Siri's founders or engineers that its voice-recognition search could be losing steam. The hiring of Stasior may be Apple's attempt to strengthen search and make Siri a major competitor for Google. 

That idea is easier said than done, especially since Google has existed almost solely as a search engine fro the majority of its existence. It's the equivalent of a radio manufacturer creating a viable music label and stable of pop stars. Sure, it's possible, but it's going to take time, effort and a major financial investment - and that still doesn't mean someone else won't be able to do it better.

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