Apple acquires AI startup for $1.6B, its biggest buy since 2014
Apple has snapped up Israeli AI startup Q.ai for $1.6 billion, making this its biggest buy since Beats in 2014.
The move means Apple is gearing up to bring silent speech controls and better audio features to Siri and other devices—think using your AirPods or headset without saying a word out loud.
Q.ai's tech can read mouthed words, emotions
Q.ai builds smart tech for wearables that can read mouthed words, facial expressions, emotions—even heart rate and breathing—using tiny cameras near your face.
With this deal, Apple gets Q.ai's 100-person team (including CEO Aviad Maizels, whose company PrimeSense later sold technology to Apple that contributed to Apple's facial-recognition work).
Deal gives Apple an edge in AI hardware race
You could soon be able to control AirPods, Vision Pro headsets, and even future smart glasses hands-free thanks to Q.ai's tech.
This gives Apple an edge as it competes with Meta and Google in the AI hardware race.
As Apple's Johny Srouji put it: "Q.ai is a remarkable company that is pioneering new and creative ways to use imaging and machine learning. "—so expect some cool upgrades ahead.