Israel, Jan 30 : Apple on Thursday announced it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup specialising in artificial intelligence for audio technologies. The company did not disclose financial terms, though the Financial Times reported the transaction was valued at close to $2 billion, a figure Reuters said it could not independently confirm.
Founded in Israel, Q.ai is backed by major venture capital firms including Matter Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, Exor and GV. Apple said the acquisition aligns with its broader strategy of expanding advanced machine learning capabilities across its hardware ecosystem.
Advancing audio and speech technologies
While Apple did not specify how Q.ai’s technology will be integrated, it noted that the startup has developed systems that enable devices to better interpret whispered speech and improve sound quality in complex or noisy environments.
Q.ai has also filed patent applications describing the use of facial skin micromovements to interpret silently mouthed words, identify individuals, and analyse indicators such as emotional state, heart rate and respiration.
Team to join Apple
All 100 Q.ai employees, including chief executive Aviad Maizels and co-founders Yonatan Wexler and Avi Barliya, will join Apple as part of the deal.
Maizels previously founded PrimeSense, a three dimensional sensing company acquired by Apple in 2013. That acquisition later played a key role in the development of Face ID, enabling Apple to move beyond fingerprint-based authentication.
In a statement, Maizels said joining Apple would allow Q.ai’s work to reach a much wider audience and unlock new possibilities for innovation.
Part of Apple’s broader AI push
Apple has been steadily adding AI-driven features to its products, including recent upgrades to AirPods that enable real-time speech translation between languages.
Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, described Q.ai as a company pioneering innovative uses of imaging and machine learning, adding that Apple was excited to bring the team and its technology into the company.