Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this year that Apple acquires a company every two or three weeks. The Cupertino company recently purchased a British startup that uses machine learning to enhance the quality of photos. Apple purchased the Seattle company Xnor.ai for $200 million, according to a report from Geek Wire.
Xnor.ai is a Seattle-based startup business that specializes in edge-based, low power artificial intelligence (AI) tools. It focuses on image recognition software that can function on low-powered devices. Last year, Xnor.ai Co-Founder Ali Farhadi revealed that the company has a self-service platform specially made for developers who are not used to coding for artificial intelligence (AI).
The platform uses drag and drop libraries and modules that can run on any device. Bloomberg confirmed the recent report with the Cupertino company but was not able to obtain the price. Based on the report, the $200 million acquisition price was only an estimate.
However, even if the final amount is less than the estimated acquisition price, it would still be a considerable return for Xnor.ai and its investors. According to Techcrunch, Apple seemingly confirmed the report about Xnor.ai's acquisition. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," says the Cupertino company in a statement.
Edge-based artificial intelligence (AI) is a type of AI that locally executes algorithms. In other words, instead of depending on the cloud, it utilizes the hardware that it is being used for. Xnor.ai is an alumnus of A12 Microsoft's A12.
The program is an incubator for AI startups like Xnor.ai financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Institute for Artificial Intelligence. But, what could Apple gain from acquiring Xnor.ia? While Apple iPhones offer some of the most advanced technologies, these are not low-powered.
With Xnox.ai, Apple could enhance the on-device processing mode and make it more efficient. The edge-based company could also help Apple leverage machine learning for its future devices. Apple's camera software use machine learning extensively in capturing and processing photos.
With the economizing methods of Xnor.ai, Apple could possibly lighten this compute-heavy task. Additionally, it could introduce new ideas in the smart home segment of Apple. Last month, Apple acquired another British firm Spectral Edge. The AI firm, which is based in Cambridge, combines machine learning with image-fusion technology to enhance the quality of photos captured using Apple iPhones.
Over the years, Apple acquired a number of firms, including the Siri developer Novauris Technologies. Apple also acquired the self-driving tech company Drive.ai, and Shazam, which is a music recognition app.
