Perceptio's founders are researchers with a background in image-recognition systems based on artificial intelligence

Oct 6, 2015 08:57 GMT  ·  By

Apple bought Perceptio, an AI startup founded by Zak Stone and Nicolas Pinto, two artificial intelligence researchers with PhDs from MIT and Harvard which are known to have previously worked on developing an image recognition system, according to a Bloomberg report.

Moreover, Zak Stone, one of the Perceptio founders, currently has a position at Apple's California headquarters according to some sources, this partially explaining how Apple managed to find the stealthy startup that stayed completely under the radar since its founding.

As usual when they acquire a new company, Apple is tight-lipped about it, with the standard statement being sent to Bloomberg by Colin Johnson, their spokesman, "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

Perceptio's field of work was artificial intelligence, with a focus on pattern-based image recognition

According to Bloomberg's report, Perceptio was working on developing an artificial intelligence-based image categorization engine for smartphones, using data gathered from the devices it was running on.

Having this type of tech on hand, Apple is bound to further decrease the amount of data they need to gather from their users' devices and store in their cloud servers, a trend that should match their no user data acquisition goals.

Perceptio's deep learning pattern-based image processing technology might help Apple enhance iOS' image recognition capability.

Perceptio is the second artificial intelligence company acquired by Apple in less than a week

Apple also bought VocalIQ recently, a company that developed a machine-learning-based voice-dialog technology that should boost Siri's conversational skills.

Furthermore, VocalIQ's tech can also be deployed in solutions capable of assuring real-time conversation between humans and Internet of Things devices, via a powerful self-learning API.

Apple's Perceptio and VocalIQ acquisitions show that they are ready to pay up for the already developed technology solutions they need instead wasting precious time developing them from scratch.