Apple continues its run of artificial intelligence acquisitions by purchasing Emotient, a spinout from University of California, San Diego, for an undisclosed amount.
Apple has acquired Emotient, a spinout from University of California, San Diego (UCSD), that is commercialising artificial intelligence (AI) technology, for an undisclosed amount.
The deal forms part of a series of purchases by Apple of AI-related companies. Other acquisitions include Perceptio, an image recognition system for mobile processors that uses deep-learning, and VocalIQ, a company working on technology to increase a computer’s ability to recognise human speech.
Founded in 2012, Emotient’s technology enables facial expressions to be analysed and understood by computers.
Along with the purchase of the company, three of the co-founders of Emotient and at least four employees will move to Apple. The three co-founders will leave the Machine Perception Laboratory, the research group they created and is based at Qualcomm Institute.
Qualcomm Institute was formerly the UCSD division of the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology but changed its name in 2013 following no-strings attached gifts from semiconductor company Qualcomm.
Emotient had secured $8m in total funding. The acquisition provided an exit for Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of Intel, which took part in a $6m series A round in 2013 (but only announced in March 2014) led by venture capital firm Handbag.
– This story was first covered by our sister site Global Corporate Venturing and adapted for GUV.
