Tech giants Apple, Meta and Google are competing fiercely for leadership in the field of artificial intelligence. Recently, this competition has focused especially on hardware and audio technologies. Apple has acquired Israeli artificial intelligence startup Q.ai for this purpose.
According to the first information published by Reuters, Q.ai specializes mainly in the field of imaging and machine learning. The company's technologies allow devices to distinguish words spoken in whispers and improve the quality of audio in noisy environments. This is of strategic importance, especially for Apple's AirPods product line. It is worth noting that Apple introduced the live translation function for AirPods last year.
In addition, Apple is developing technologies that detect very weak movements of facial muscles. These innovations are expected to expand the capabilities of Vision Pro mixed reality glasses.
According to the Financial Times, the value of the deal is about $ 2 billion. This is the second largest acquisition in Apple's history. The company's biggest acquisition was the $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics in 2014.
Interestingly, Q.ai CEO Aviad Maizels has previously sold his company to Apple. In 2013, he sold PrimeSense, a 3D sensor technology company, to Apple. That technology played a key role in the transition from fingerprint recognition to facial recognition on iPhones.
Founded in 2022, Q.ai was funded by prestigious funds such as Kleiner Perkins and Gradient Ventures. The company's founders — Aviad Maizels, Yonatan Wexler, and Avi Barliya — will continue to work on the Apple team after the acquisition.
The news came just hours before Apple was due to release its quarterly financial report. Analysts are predicting revenue of about $138 billion. At the same time, this quarter is expected to be remembered for Apple's strongest iPhone sales growth in the last four years.
