Yahoo is expanding its research division, Yahoo Labs, with a total of 50 PhD hires planned for this year as the firm looks to expand its "science-led innovation" department, which looks into technologies including big data and artificial intelligence.
Yahoo Labs has so far employed 30 researchers with PhDs, and looks to add 20 more to that before the end of the year, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said in an interview with Bloomberg. The appointments mark a change in strategy for the firm, which saw the role of the department cut under Mayer's predecessor.
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"The lab is still here - it's been reduced in size," she said, adding that Yahoo is spending "heavily to build it back up".
The division is headed by chief scientist Ron Brachman, who before joining Yahoo was the director of the Information Processing Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a part of the Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies for use by the military. DARPA is credited by many as the agency that helped develop the internet during the 1960s.
Vacancies recently listed on Yahoo Labs recruitment page include one for a research scientist with specialist knowledge in mobile. Mobile is an area Mayer is known to be keen on as she aims to pull Yahoo closer to competitors such as Google and Facebook.
Indeed, this year has seen Yahoo acquire a spate of mobile firms as it looks to expand its influence in the field. Recent acquisitions include email management firm Xobni and iPhone video app Qwiki.
