Apple (AAPL) acquired Israeli startup Q.AI at close to a $2 billion valuation.
Patents filed by Q.AI indicate its technology being used in headphones or glasses, using “facial skin micro movements,” to communicate without talking, according to a Financial Times report on Thursday, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice-president of hardware technologies, said Q.AI is “a remarkable company that is pioneering new and creative ways to use imaging and machine learning,” according to the report.
The acquisition is designed to help Apple (AAPL) narrow its gap with Meta (META), Google (GOOGL) and OpenAI (OPENAI) in the race to create new kinds of wearable devices that speak to AI.