Apple has quietly agreed to hire employees and license intellectual property from Animato, a startup focused on software for creating virtual avatars used in video chats and tutoring, according to a European Commission filing highlighted by MacRumors.
The transaction, filed under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act in January 2026, appears to be structured as an acqui-hire arrangement. Under the agreement, Apple can extend employment offers to select Animato employees while also receiving a non-exclusive license to the company’s intellectual property and acquiring its patent applications.
Animato was founded in October 2022 by Francesco Rossi, who previously spent seven years working at Apple before launching the company.
The startup became known for its app, Call Annie, which launched in April 2023 and gave ChatGPT a real-time animated avatar face that enabled users to hold video-style conversations with the AI assistant. The platform later expanded into language learning with avatar tutors for English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, and Korean.
Animato also launched Animato Studio, a macOS virtual camera app that allowed users to appear as fantasy characters and anime avatars during video calls and livestreams.
Following the acquisition, both App Store listings have reportedly been removed, and the Call Annie website says the application has been discontinued.
The deal marks Apple’s second acquisition involving digital avatar technology in just over a year. In January 2025, Apple acquired technology, intellectual property, and physical assets from TrueMeeting, which specialized in digital avatars for meetings.
Apple already offers avatar-focused experiences through Memoji on the iPhone and Personas on the Apple Vision Pro, which creates realistic digital representations of users for FaceTime calls.
