Apple Acquires Emotion Recognition Specialist Emotient

Apple Acquires Emotion Recognition Specialist Emotient

Following other AI and facial recognition acquisitions during the last few months, Apple has now snapped up Emotient, a San Diego-based startup that specializes in face-based emotional analysis

Apple has acquired San Diego-based startup Emotient, which specializes in emotion recognition products, according to a Jan. 7 report in The Wall Street Journal.

When contacted by The Journal, an Apple spokeswoman replied with the company’s typical non-response response, saying the tech giant “buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”

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The Apple spokeswoman also declined on elaborate on the deal or what Apple’s future plans for Emotient might be.

However, this Apple acquisition does fit in with several other moves the company has made in the last several months that point to a larger strategy that will bring more artificial intelligence into everyday life.

In November, Apple quietly bought Faceshift, a specialist in facial recognition and rendering technology, which fits in with the Emotient deal. Earlier, in October, Apple acquired Perceptio, which has developed deep learning and AI capabilities, which could be added to Siri.