Apple reportedly acquires French AI company working on on-device AI and computer vision

Apple has reportedly acquired a French artificial intelligence (AI) startup working on on-device computer vision technology. Paris-based Datakalab was reportedly acquired by the iPhone maker late last year. The move is said to be related to the tech giant's ambitions to bring AI capabilities to iPhones and other devices. Interestingly, this is not the first time his AI company has been acquired by Apple during this time. Last month, another report said the tech giant also acquired Canadian AI startup DarwinAI.

This information comes from the French business magazine Challenges, which claims that the deal to acquire Datacarab was completed on December 17, 2023. It's unclear how much money Apple spent on acquiring the startup, but the tech giant now owns 100% of the company, according to a notice to the European Commission. Notably, this AI company was founded by brothers Xavier and Lucas Fisher in his 2017 year.

According to Datakalab's LinkedIn page, the company describes its work as “a new way to compress computer vision neural networks.” Additionally, the “About” section explains that they are working on “compression and adaptation for fast, cost-effective, and accurate deployment of embedded computer vision.” AI companies have published nine of his research papers and have three patents pending.

This startup description highlights why Apple is interested in this startup. Bloomberg's Mark Garman has reported multiple times that tech giants want to build on-device AI. Datakalab's work was primarily in computer vision, and on-device he also focused on building tools and systems. Additionally, the computer vision part is important as it could give Apple an advantage compared to its competitors. Although OpenAI recently announced a vision model, most of his smartphone-based AI features (with the exception of Google Lens) do not offer vision-focused features.

Apple also reportedly acquired Canadian AI company DarwinAI earlier this year. The startup was also working on on-device AI components. Based on these reported ventures, the iPhone maker is investing heavily to meet the rumored June 10 deadline to announce iOS 18 and possibly new AI features in development. is obvious.