Apple Acquires Artificial Intelligence Company Xnor.ai

[MacRumors]

Apple has purchased Seattle startup Xnor.ai, a company that specializes in on-device artificial intelligence, reports GeekWire, citing sources with knowledge of the acquisition.

Apple is said to have paid around $200 million for Xnor.ai, and while both Apple and Xnor.ai have declined to comment on the potential acquisition, much of the Xnor.ai website has been taken offline and GeekWire says that a move from the Xnor.ai offices is taking place in Seattle.

Xnor.ai's technology lets companies run deep learning algorithms locally on devices that include smartphones and wearables rather than requiring these computations to be done in the cloud. Xnor promised complete privacy of data along with reduced memory load and power demands.

Given Apple's deep interest in personal privacy, an acquisition of technology for handling AI on device is unsurprising. Apple has, in the past, purchased other similar AI companies, such as Turi.

Xnor.ai's work could potentially be incorporated into future iPhones, improving Siri and other AI and machine learning-based tasks that are done on device.

Update: Apple confirmed the acquisition of Xnor.ai to Axios with its standard acquisition statement: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

Article Link: Apple Acquires Artificial Intelligence Company Xnor.ai

 

[Archmage]

Well this probably explains why Xnor.ai terminated their contract for person detection with Wyze

 

[farewelwilliams]

Wonder if Apple told them "dump Wyze first, then we have a deal"

 

[chipb]

If ya can't beat em, buy em...

 

[Baymowe335]

Xnor.ai's technology lets companies run deep learning algorithms locally on devices that include smartphones and wearables rather than requiring these computations to be done in the cloud.

Now we're going to see why Apple has spent so many resources in their industry leading A-Series chips.

"I don't need this A13 performance to open Instagram" is going to look pretty silly. Apple has been building this technology for the larger picture.
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If ya can't beat em, buy em...

Yeah, I'm sure Apple was shaking in their boots at competing with a $200M AI startup.

 

[now i see it]

count down begins to when the founders bail out.

 

[chipb]

Now we're going to see why Apple has spent so many resources in their industry leading A-Series chips.

"I don't need this A13 performance to open Instagram" is going to look pretty silly. Apple has been building this technology for the larger picture.
[automerge]1579115939[/automerge]

Yeah, I'm sure Apple was shaking in their boots at competing with a $200M AI startup.

They obviously were willing to purchase their technology, not out of fear but because it was easier to buy them then develop this themselves. No?

 

[Wide opeN]

Whatever makes Apple/iPhone better I'm all for.

 

[Baymowe335]

They obviously were willing to purchase their technology, not out of fear but because it was easier to buy them then develop this themselves. No?

The point is, this is a strategic acquisition...not one made out of some inability to "beat" them. They would beat them if they put in the effort, but buying them was as you said, easier.

 

[LordVic]

Probably intent to bolster their Siri offerings.

There's a significant gap that Siri needs to pick up on to keep up to date featurewise with Amazon's or Google's AI work.

I don't think Apple has done a terrible job, but it's clear that on their own they haven't quite the same level of success as their competitors. Likely this will be a big injection of technology, and smart people.

 

[Cosmosent]

Are U kidding me, $200M USD, that's in the noise margin !

Apple has probably committed more than $2B USD just for upcoming TV shows, just since Jan 1st !

I think Cook may be bored with Electronics & Software !

BTW, AI is NO smarter than whoever is coding the algorithms !

 

[iosuser]

I have 3 Wyzecams with the xnor.ai firmware, and I'm never updating the firmware on them again. The person detection works quite well.

 

[az431]

If ya can't beat em, buy em...

How do Apple and Xnor compete with each other?
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BTW, AI is NO smarter than whoever is coding the algorithms !

So you’re saying that product traits such as performance and reliability depend on the people who created that product?

Well that’s just earth shattering news.
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They obviously were willing to purchase their technology, not out of fear but because it was easier to buy them then develop this themselves. No?

you can’t develop and use something that is patented.

 

[twolf2919]

Probably intent to bolster their Siri offerings.

There's a significant gap that Siri needs to pick up on to keep up to date featurewise with Amazon's or Google's AI work.

I don't think Apple has done a terrible job, but it's clear that on their own they haven't quite the same level of success as their competitors. Likely this will be a big injection of technology, and smart people.

I'm the biggest Apple fan, but even I have to say Apple has done a terrible job with Siri. Not so much with its recognition abilities - which I view on par with Google and Alexa - but with Siri without a network. I mean, come on!, why do I need a network connection for Siri to be able to change the volume on my iPhone Nothing more frustrating than using APPLE AirPods - which need Siri for pretty much everything - and not being able to do the most basic things without a network.

I hope this acquisition is an indication that Apple is finally getting off its a$$ and - after, what, a decade? - makes more of Siri available on-device.

 

[travelsheep]

$200 million is smaller.

 

[urnotl33t]

More Animojis. Called it first. Wish I was kidding.

 

[podlasek]

Please fix Siri!

 

[LiveM]

BTW, AI is NO smarter than whoever is coding the algorithms !

That’s like saying you will never be smarter than your parents. AI is proven to do things, such as making up languages to communicate with other AI that are more efficient that what they are programmed to use. They can go way beyond what their minders can monitor.

 

[atomic.flip]

I love the headline "Apple Acquires...."

Then in the article: "Apple is said to have paid around $200 million for Xnor.ai, and while both Apple and Xnor.ai have declined to comment on the potential acquisition, much of the Xnor.ai website has been taken offline and GeekWire says that a move from the Xnor.ai offices is taking place in Seattle."

Hey Macrumors editor in chief! That's what we (in the news industry) call a "rumor based on speculation".

I know times are getting really tough for writers/publishers... believe me I know. But please ensure your headlines honestly reflect the nature of the story. It's a standard we all rely on for ethical reporting. (This was likely an error, but one that should not have happened given the very nature of the content on this site.)

 

[cubedweller]

I love the headline "Apple Acquires...."

Then in the article: "Apple is said to have paid around $200 million for Xnor.ai, and while both Apple and Xnor.ai have declined to comment on the potential acquisition, much of the Xnor.ai website has been taken offline and GeekWire says that a move from the Xnor.ai offices is taking place in Seattle."

Hey Macrumors editor in chief! That's what we (in the news industry) call a "rumor based on speculation".

I know times are getting really tough for writers/publishers... believe me I know. But please ensure your headlines honestly reflect the nature of the story. It's a standard we all rely on for ethical reporting. (This was likely an error, but one that should not have happened given the very nature of the content on this site.)

You realize that Apple has confirmed via Axios, right? Maybe it's time you get off your soapbox.

 

[DeepIn2U]

If ya can't beat em, buy em...

hmm.

How is this any different than 'Shortcuts'?
Shortcuts runs on device on chip (iPhone currently) and then executes locally / internet connection. I'm sure Shortcuts does not have a constraint to ignore an internet connection as it's using Siri commands ... yet from an outside view of how this video is explained ... I can see this as Shortcuts that sort of learns by itself ... yet allows for Apple AirPods/AirPods Pro's and Apple Watch and upcoming Apple Shades (glasses) to have this technology.

Watch and Shades would be harder for an end user to manually create shortcuts vs having to fully learn.
Then again with HealthKit app on Watch, Activities ... it sort of knows at a certain time of day you're either behind on closing your rings anyway, and gives you a notification with a little person 'push'.

Now .. it makes me wonder ... was hiring that Google AI executive that's leading Siri (not much of a lead lately as no change after just over 12mths) was really worth the millions of dollars?

hmmm.
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You realize that Apple has confirmed via Axios, right? Maybe it's time you get off your soapbox.

pssst ... 'macrumors invisible sign says' Don't feed the trolls

 

[LordVic]

BTW, AI is NO smarter than whoever is coding the algorithms !

The point of AI research is to try and change that.

True AI would be a computer that is capable of thinking for itself and not just restricted to the algorithms ruleset.

Like us.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

They obviously were willing to purchase their technology, not out of fear but because it was easier to buy them then develop this themselves. No?

Even if Apple saw what they were doing and thought they too would like to do that, and could do it for less than the 200mil purchase price, it still makes more sense to just buy them and save all that time and effort getting to where they're already at today. They've already dealt with myriad difficulties and problems getting to this point. If you can just build on that success rather than do their work all over again and risk getting it wrong, it's a no-brainer to just buy and bring their good work into the fold rather than the uphill battle of duplicating & replicating it.

Anyway, it's Ai, there's no likelihood any two initiatives even trying to achieve the same goal would ever be able to do so. You might get something closer to what you want, or farther off, but odds are nil you'd see what some other Ai is doing and ever be able to build one just like it. Same as trying to raise one kid, deciding you like him, then deciding to have another kid and try to raise him to be exactly like his older brother was. Never going to happen.

 

[PickUrPoison]

I love the headline "Apple Acquires...."

Then in the article: "Apple is said to have paid around $200 million for Xnor.ai, and while both Apple and Xnor.ai have declined to comment on the potential acquisition, much of the Xnor.ai website has been taken offline and GeekWire says that a move from the Xnor.ai offices is taking place in Seattle."

Hey Macrumors editor in chief! That's what we (in the news industry) call a "rumor based on speculation".

I know times are getting really tough for writers/publishers... believe me I know. But please ensure your headlines honestly reflect the nature of the story. It's a standard we all rely on for ethical reporting. (This was likely an error, but one that should not have happened given the very nature of the content on this site.)

When a news publication breaks a story confirmed by multiple sources with knowledge of the facts, is that a rumor?

I think they used to call them “scoops”.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

BTW, AI is NO smarter than whoever is coding the algorithms!

Too late. They're already reinventing themselves for their own purposes in ways that make absolutely no sense to human beings whatsoever yet still produce results they're satisfied with, some of which, secondarily to them, we find satisfactory as well. We're along for the ride at this point. All you can do is what people who study intelligence have been doing throughout the last century of animal behavioral science, which is, as we discover more and more about the nature of intelligence in the natural world, just continually redefine "intelligence" so our species is the only one fitting the definition. So far, the Octopus haven't bothered to fight us on it. Ai might not care either, but with different results.