Apple to buy Turi

Apple Inc. acquired Artificial Intelligence startup Turi Inc. for about $200 Million in the latest deal by the iPhone maker to accumulate advanced computing capabilities for its products and services.

Turi helps developers create and manage software and services that use a form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) called machine learning. It also has systems that let companies to build recommendation engines, detect fraud, analyze customer usage patterns, and better target potential users. Apple could use this to more rapidly integrate the technology with future products.

Formerly known as Dato, Turi raised more than $25 Million from venture capital investors including New Enterprise Associates and Madrona Venture Group, according to CrunchBase. Apple has purchased multiple firms over the past couple of years that specializes in Artificial Intelligence. The company has also begun to integrate these technologies into products such as its iPhone software and Siri.

In January, Apple acquired Emotient, a startup that uses AI to recognize and act upon facial expressions. Last year, Apple acquired a pair of voice centric AI startups, VocalIQ and Perceptio, to bolster Siri. VocalIQ specialized in using machine learning to allow voice assistants to engage in more realistic conversation. Perceptio focused on helping AI systems run on devices while sharing limited amounts of personal user data.

Apple Buys Emotient

Apple has bought a San Diego startup working on Artificial Intelligence technology that analyzes facial expressions to detect emotions. Facial Recognition is an area in which several major tech companies have interest, though it’s not without controversy.

Facebook decided against releasing its Moments photo app in Europe because of fears over privacy regulations and Google Photos only offers its facial recognition feature in the US. Apple has also made some other acquisitions. Faceshift, a motion capture startup focused on facial analysis, and Perceptio a company with deep learning image recognition technology designed for mobile processors.

Improving Image recognition is a hot topic in Silicon Valley where Apple rivals Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc. Google and others are investing heavily in Artificial Intelligence techniques. Apple has expressed interest in the field. In a 2014 patent application, it described a software system that would analyze and identify people moods based on a variety of clues including facial expression.

In October, Apple confirmed that it had acquired another artificial Intelligence startup VocalIQ Ltd. that aims to improve a computer ability to understand natural speech. In May, Emotient announced it had been granted a patent for a method of collecting and labeling as many as 100,000 facial images a day so computers can better recognize different expressions.

Apple acquires VocalIQ

Apple Inc. acquired a UK software startup that could give its digital assistant Siri a boost. VocalIQ has built software aimed at making it easier for people to speak to computers in a more natural way, an area in which Siri and other voice recognition services have struggled. The company has been particularly focused on selling its product to auto manufacturers including a partnership with General Motors Co.

VocalIQ Technology is based on Machine Learning, an area of Artificial Intelligence in which a computer improves as it ingests more information. As a person uses VocalIQ Software it helps a device become more accurate at predicting what commands to execute. Other technology companies including Google and Facebook have been conducting similar research in this area.

Apple has been steadily improving Siri since its debut in 2011. While at first criticized for understanding only the most rudimentary of requests, the company has been adding features for getting sports scores, setting reminders, searching for an iPhone picture or finding directions. Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and generally discuss purpose and plans.