A few months ago, we noted that former Microsoft Internet search chief Christopher Payne was involved with a stealth startup in town called Positronic. Now, word comes through Mary Jo Foley that Payne -- who before leading search efforts at Microsoft worked at Amazon.com -- has sold the company to eBay and joined the ecommerce giant as a vice president.

On the surface, it looks more like a talent acquisition than a technology buy.   But the question remains: Can a couple of former Microsoft search gurus transform eBay's search efforts?

eBay Ink confirms the news, also noting that Positronic's Dane Glasgow (former general manager of Windows Live Search) is joining eBay as vice president of engineering. They both plan to relocate to Silicon Valley.

This might be one of the most secretive acquisitions we've come across in some time, as not much was really known about Positronic. Its Web site at one point described the company's efforts as "“striving to push forward the state of the art in machine learning and computational science.”

Hat tip to Marcelo Calbucci at Seattle 2.0 for directing us to the story.