Apple acquires Israeli startup Q.ai with facial recognition technologies

The American company Apple has officially acquired the Israeli startup Q.ai, which specializes in technologies for recognizing facial micro-movements and silent speech. The deal is valued at approximately $2 billion, making it one of Apple's largest acquisitions in history since the purchase of Beats in 2014.

Q.ai was founded in 2022 in Tel Aviv and operated under a veil of secrecy for a long time. The company's technologies enable the analysis of subtle facial muscle movements that occur during speech formation, the recognition of quiet or silent speech, and the detection of users' emotions. These capabilities open up new ways to interact with devices without voice commands or screen touches.

Q.ai's technologies are expected to be integrated into Apple's smart glasses, headphones, and other devices, and may also be used to enhance digital assistants like Siri and create new control interfaces.

As part of the deal, around 100 Q.ai employees, including founder Aviad Maisels, will join Apple. Maisels previously sold his startup PrimeSense to Apple, whose technologies formed the basis of the Face ID system for iPhones.

Apple representatives, including Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji, noted that Q.ai is an "exceptional company paving new ways in the application of machine learning and image processing."

The deal underscores Apple's efforts to strengthen its position in the segment of AI-powered wearable devices and compete with companies like Meta and Google in the market for new interfaces and smart gadgets.

Source: Times of Israel