An Israeli audio artificial intelligence startup is acquired by Apple

The Israeli startup Q.ai, which creates artificial intelligence technology for audio, was acquired by Apple.

The company did not disclose the terms of the deal for Q.ai, which was backed by venture capital firms Matter Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, Exor, and GV, formerly known as Google Ventures. Reuters was able to independently confirm the Financial Times’ claim that its value was close to $2 billion.

Apple stated that the startup has worked on new machine learning applications to help devices understand whispered speech and improve audio in challenging environments, but it did not specify how it will use Q.ai’s technology.

Q.ai submitted a patent application last year for the use of «micro facial skin movements» to identify a person, detect spoken or articulated words, and measure their heart rate, respiration rate, emotions, and other indicators.

Q.ai’s 100 employees, including CEO Aviad Maizels and co-founders Yonatan Wexler and Avi Barliya, will join Apple, the companies said.

Maizels founded the 3D sensing company PrimeSense and sold it to Apple in 2013. The PrimeSense deal ultimately helped Apple move away from fingerprint sensors in its iPhones and embrace facial recognition technology.