Apple has acquired Spaces, a VR company that offered both VR experiences and, after the pandemic hit, a way of bringing your virtual avatar into Zoom meetings. Protocol quotes an unnamed Apple spokesperson offering the usual boilerplate confirmation, saying that it had nothing else to add. Spaces is, or was, a company that started out offering free-roam VR experiences, similar to what The Void offered in those heady pre-pandemic times. It was spun out of DreamWorks, and its first project was a Terminator-themed VR game for up to four players. But the most interesting thing about it was the facial tracking it used to try and make its VR games more immersive than the competition.

Apple is continuing its string of AI startup acquisitions, this time to improve Siri's performance. The company has confirmed to Bloomberg that it recently acquired Inductiv, a Waterloo, Ontario, Canada-based company that uses AI to correct data -- which, in turn, improves machine learning. The company didn't elaborate on its plans and relied on its standard response that it "buys smaller technology companies from time to time," but Siri appears to be the focus. The iPhone maker appears to be focused on improving its voice assistant's understanding as of late, most recently acquiring Voysis to boost natural language comprehension. Cleaner data would go a long way toward that goal by reducing the chances that garbage information confuses Siri.

It's been about a month since the last Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) acquisition that investors have caught wind of (Spectral Edge, to bolster the company's computational photography). CEO Tim Cook confirmed last year that the tech titan tends to buy smaller companies every two to three weeks. Apple's latest acquisition is all about low-power edge-based artificial intelligence (AI). Here's what investors need to know. GeekWire reports that Apple has scooped up Xnor.ai, a Seattle-based start-up that specializes in on-device AI.

Apple acquired Seattle-based artificial intelligence company Xnor.ai, The company, founded in 2016, had raised millions of dollars to build tools that help AI algorithms run on devices rather than remote data centers. In recent years, Apple has pushed to run this type of software on its devices to keep user information more private and speed up processing. The company paid about $200 million for Xnor.ai, according to GeekWire, which reported the deal earlier. Apple didn't comment on the price, but said that it buys "smaller technology companies from time to time" and generally does not discuss its plans.

Xnor.ai, spun off in 2017 from the nonprofit Allen Institute for AI (AI2), has been acquired by Apple for about $200 million. Apple confirmed the reports with its standard statement for this sort of quiet acquisition: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans." Xnor.ai began as a process for making machine learning algorithms highly efficient -- so efficient that they could run on even the lowest tier of hardware out there, things like embedded electronics in security cameras that use only a modicum of power. Yet using Xnor's algorithms they could accomplish tasks like object recognition, which in other circumstances might require a powerful processor or connection to the cloud. CEO Ali Farhadi and his founding team put the company together at AI2 and spun it out just before the organization formally launched its incubator program.

Apple on Wednesday said it has acquired Xnor.ai, an artificial intelligence software start-up. The company has previously used acquisitions to expand its bench of AI talent, as have other technology companies like Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft. These companies have all taken steps to enhance their own products with AI and offer tools to outside software developers. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," the company told CNBC in an email. GeekWire first reported the news earlier on Wednesday, saying that the deal was worth up about $200 million.

Technology news website The Information reported earlier this month that the iPhone maker was considering acquiring the firm as a move to bring aboard some of its engineering talent to boost Apple's own self-driving efforts. One of hundreds of startups pursuing autonomous vehicles, Drive.ai had been running a small fleet of test shuttles in Texas, The Information reported. But the startup told California regulators that it plans to lay off 90 people in a permanent closure. The San Francisco Chronicle earlier reported the closure. In Silicon Valley, it is common for larger companies to acquire struggling startups primarily to hire their engineers, a move known in the industry as an "acqui-hire."

Apple has acquired PullString, the startup behind the voice technology powering the interactive "Hello Barbie" doll Mattel released in 2015. PullString, previously known as ToyTalk, was founded back in 2011 by former Pixar employees. Its AI platform gave its partner companies and clients a way to create digital and physical characters and voice apps that can communicate with people. Hello Barbie was one of those -- an interactive Thomas The Tank Engine toy was another. The company previously launched software that makes it easy even for non-technical pros to create Alexa apps of their own, as well.

Apple has been on a AI-centric hiring spree this year, having lured over Google's former AI chief to head a new team combining its core machine learning and Siri groups as well as numerous software engineers. Somewhere along the way it also quietly acquired privacy-centric AI startup Silk Labs, per The Information. The company released a crowdfunded smart home monitoring camera back in 2016 which showed off its lightweight AI tech. Dubbed Sense, the inconspicuous device included facial and object recognition tech that could recognize multiple faces and even pets. It could also play music based on the user's taste and pair with third-party gadgets like Sonos speakers and smart light bulbs.

Apple on Monday confirmed it has bought Shazam, the music app that can identify a song by hearing just a snippet of it. The acquisition boosts Apple's position in the music world and advances its artificial intelligence efforts. Shazam, launched in 1999, claims that at least 1 billion people have downloaded its app and used it to identify songs at least 30 billion times. Its service was one of the first AI products to be used by a broad audience. As Apple faces other tech giants in this increasingly competitive arena, analysts say Shazam could add significant value not only with its own service but also by making Apple's AI products -- namely Siri -- smarter about music.