Word is leaking out of Cupertino that Raja Koduri, AMD's former Chief Technology Officer of the Graphics Product Group, will be joining Apple in an undisclosed job. Mr. Koduri joins Bob Drebin, AMD's former CTO for its ATI Graphics Product Group, as the second high-level graphics name to be linked to Apple in only a few days.
According to the Inquirer, news of Mr. Koduri's new job comes from sources deep inside Apple, although they aren't saying yet what his role will be.
News that Mr. Drebin joined Apple as a senior director surfaced on April 28 -- only two days ago -- and like Mr. Koduri, his exact job description is under wraps. Considering their expertise in graphic chip design, it seems fairly probable that both will be involved in similar activities at Apple.
The Mac and iPod maker has been hiring more than just graphics pros as of late. Former IBM executive and blade server pro, Mark Papermaster, joined Apple as vide president of Devices Hardware Engineering in April after the two companies settled a dispute over whether or not the trade secrets he know would give Apple an unfair competitive advantage.
Apple also purchased chip designer PS Semi, leading speculation that the company is working on its own customized chips for the iPhone, iPod and Mac. If so, Apple could be designing, among other things, its own optimized video processors and system on a chip processors for its computers and handheld devices.