Apple bought real-time video editing startup to boost its AR push

Apple has doubled down on AR by acquiring Danish machine learning company Spektral, whose software erases backgrounds from videos instantly. The purchase remained quiet until Danish newspaper Børsen broke the news today. Fortune notes that the deal closed in December 2017 for a cool $30 million. Apple is no stranger to under-the-radar buyouts, and the Spektral acquisition doesn't come as a surprise given the Danish startup's expertise. Spektral, formerly named'CloudCutout,' uses spectral graph theory and deep neural networks to create what is essentially green screen video editing, but in real time.