Apple has confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup developing artificial intelligence technology for audio, as the company continues adding AI-driven features across its hardware lineup. And Apple did not disclose the terms of the acquisition.
Q.ai was backed by Matter Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, Exor, and GV (Google Ventures). Reuters’ sources said the deal valued Q.ai at about $1.6 billion.
Apple did not detail how it plans to use Q.ai’s technology, but said the startup has worked on new machine learning applications to help devices understand whispered speech and to improve audio quality in difficult environments.
Q.ai last year filed a patent application describing a method that uses “facial skin micromovements” to detect words that are mouthed or spoken, identify a person and measure indicators including emotions, heart rate and respiration rate. Q.ai’s 100 employees will join Apple, including CEO Aviad Maizels and co-founders Yonatan Wexler and Avi Barliya.
Maizels previously founded three-dimensional sensing firm PrimeSense, which Apple acquired in 2013. That deal later contributed to Apple’s shift away from fingerprint sensors on iPhones toward facial recognition technology.
Apple has also been building more AI capabilities into its AirPods, including technology introduced last year that allows them to translate speech between languages.
“Joining Apple opens extraordinary possibilities for pushing boundaries and realizing the full potential of what we’ve created, and we’re thrilled to bring these experiences to people everywhere,” said Maizels in a statement.
Johny Srouji, Apple Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies, pointed out that Q.ai is a “remarkable company that is pioneering new and creative ways to use imaging and machine learning,”
