Apple has been massively buying up companies working on artificial intelligence for the fifth year
GlobalData conducted a study that showed that Apple had acquired the largest number of companies working on artificial intelligence over the past five years. The Cupertino tech giant has surpassed Accenture, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook on this indicator.
Over the past few years, Apple has bought companies like Emotient, Turi, Glimpse, RealFace, Shazam, SensoMotoric, Silk Labs, Drive.ai, Laserlike, SpectralEdge, Voysis, XNOR.ai, and many more. These acquisitions are designed to enhance the AI and machine learning capabilities of Apple products. The company has not disclosed all of its acquisitions so that the Californian tech giant may own many more AI companies.
GlobalData reports that Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft collectively acquired 60 AI companies between 2016 and 2020. Of these, 25 are accounted for by Apple. CEO Tim Cook says Apple is not afraid to consider any acquisitions but focuses on promising startups.
Most of Apple’s AI acquisitions are aimed at improving Siri’s voice assistant. The company acquired Inductive to improve voice assistant processing, and Voysis helped Siri improve their understanding of live human speech. Many acquisitions target the company’s future AI products.
GlobalData also reports that Apple, Accenture, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have hired more than 14,000 AI and machine learning technology employees in 2020.
