Apple buys secretive audio AI startup Q.ai
Apple has acquired Q.ai, a little‑known Israeli startup focused on audio-focused artificial intelligence, in a deal reportedly worth about $2 billion. That price tag would make Q.ai Apple’s second-largest purchase after Beats.
Q.ai develops machine learning tools that help devices pick up and interpret hard-to-hear speech, like whispers, and improve audio quality in noisy conditions. In a patent filing last year, the company described using tiny movements in facial skin to detect spoken or mouthed words, identify who is speaking, and gauge their emotional state. Apple has not detailed how it will use the technology, but the deal fits its push to deepen on-device AI capabilities, especially around voice and sound.
More from Technology
Broadband projects keep running late and over budget, largely because construction work is labor‑intensive, fragmented, and short on skilled workers.
Ericsson has completed a pre-standard 6G trial in the United States and entered into a collaboration with Qualcomm to push early development of the ne
Security firm Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) is shifting its eSIM provisioning workloads onto Amazon Web Services, turning what used to be a dedicated teleco
At MWC Barcelona 2026, Qualcomm is using live demonstrations to show how it wants 6G networks to handle more intelligence and higher efficiency from t
Kigen and Trasna are expanding their partnership to offer a joint managed eSIM service aimed at enterprises running large-scale IoT deployments. The s
Vodafone and Tiami Networks have tested a radar-style sensing system that lets existing 5G networks detect nearby hazards, pitching it as groundwork f