Tech giant acquires two companies in 4 days

folarin okunola

October 6, 2015 5:02 PM

Apple also acquired another AI company called VocalIQ, a UK-based startup which develops technology that help computers understand human speech.

Apple has gone a shopping spree as it steps up and joins other tech giants in the industry’s latest race: artificial intelligence.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple has bought Perceptio, a company that makes image-recognition technology for smartphones, a deal which also happens to be Apple’s second AI deal in just four days.

Business Insider reports that Perceptio was working on ‘deep learning’ technology for smartphones, which allows phones to independently identify images without relying on external data libraries or cloud-based platform.

Apple is very big on not storing data offsite so it only makes sense that it would acquire a company very deep on deep learning.

Deep learning is a specialized aspect of artificial intelligence that’s all the rage right now in the tech industry. It allows machines to recognize patterns and learn on their own.

Artificial Intelligence as a whole is fast becoming increasing vital as more and more companies roll out and try to improve “virtual assistant” services such as Google Now and Apple’s Siri.

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Apple may have also acquired Perceptio to help with its plans to build a self-driving car, with the tech giant rumored to enter the car business in 2019 with an electric car that is not at all autonomous.

Last Friday, Apple also acquired another AI company called VocalIQ, a UK-based startup which develops technology that help computers understand human speech.

Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are all engaged in an AI race, with all the tech giants hiring numerous experts in the field from academia and acquiring startup that are specialized in that field.

folarin okunola