Apple's Latest AI Acquisition Is A Glimpse Into Future Devices

Future Apple smart speakers, like HomePod, might be much more data privacy focused. Apple has reportedly paid $200 million to acquire Seattle-based artificial intelligence company Xnor.ai, The purchase is one of many for Apple, which has become adept at vacuuming up tech startups, but it also gives us a glimpse into the company's thinking when it comes to future devices. Xnor.ai's work on hyper-efficient, low-power AI that doesn't require powerful processing or a connection to the cloud (processing locally on-device instead), neatly slots into a few areas Apple is currently working on. Whilst Apple hasn't - and doesn't typically - comment on why it acquires certain companies and how they fit into its future roadmap, we can speculate on how Xnor.ai's work fits in to the master plan.