Ms. Chayes (Wikipedia)

Looks like Microsoft is the next tech behemoth to extend their empire to our fine city. According to All Things D, the company has a vast network of research institutions, and its newest campus will be located in New York. Though the team has yet to find a NYC office, the new branch will be the 13th addition to the research squad.

The research lab will be staffed by many former Yahoo employees, including online social behavior researcher Duncan Watts and machine learning expert John Langford. Jennifer Chayes, a mathematical physicist, will run the New York lab in addition to the one she already helms in Boston.

According to the New York Times:

The 15 recruits, [Ms. Chayes] said, are just the start of the build-up of Microsoft’s research arm in New York. And the lab is looking to forge partnerships — visiting and consulting researcher relationships — with Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, Rutgers University and the planned Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute.

Apparently Ms. Chayes is a big fan of some of Silicon Alley's recent tech boosting initiatives. She also told the NYT that there is "a groundswell of technology in New York. And we want to be in the places around the world where there is great science and technology."

An earlier version of this piece erroneously stated that Duncan Watts and  John Langford were laid off from Yahoo. Betabeat regrets the error.