While Google is said to be the champion in artificial intelligence (AI), its fiercest rival Apple seems to be looking to catch up to the Mountain View, California-based giant. According to data shared by data analytics firm GlobalData, Apple acquired the highest number of Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies, ahead of Google, Accenture, Microsoft, and Facebook – other leaders in terms of AI acquisitions. Apple has bought companies like Emotient, Turi, Glimpse, RealFace, Shazam, SensoMotoric, Silk Labs, Drive.ai, Laserlike, SpectralEdge, Voysis, XNOR.ai, and more over the past few years. These acquisitions come as the company's aim towards improving the AI and machine learning capabilities of its products and services.

Apple is the leading buyer of companies in the global artificial intelligence space, according to data shared today by GlobalData. From 2016 to 2020, Apple acquired the highest number of AI companies, beating out Accenture, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, all of whom also had a high number of AI acquisitions. Over the course of the last several years, Apple has bought companies like Emotient, Turi, Glimpse, RealFace, Shazam, SensoMotoric, Silk Labs, Drive.ai, Laserlike, SpectralEdge, Voysis, XNOR.ai, and more, all with the aim of improving the AI and machine learning capabilities of its products and services. Apple does not make all of its acquisitions public, so it's possible there are other artificial intelligence companies that Apple has purchased that have gone under the radar.

For many years now, we are witnessing a tectonic shift in how technology is being used to revolutionise major sectors around the world. One of the most prominent keywords that keep popping up now and then is the'artificial intelligence revolution.' Tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, etc., have shown deep interest in not just adopting AI but also acquiring AI startups, which has become the new normal. Apple is winning the race with the'You Start, I Purchase' mindset. The number of acquisitions it has made, without much pomp and shows over a short span of three to four years, is remarkable. Nevertheless, it is a win-win situation for both Apple as well as the startups. "Apple buys a new company every two or three weeks."

A comprehensive list of top startup companies who are building quite a reputation in the tech domain through voice tech offerings. Voice AI has been around since IBM introduced it in 1961 through IBM Shoebox. It was the first digital speech recognition tool which at its time could recognize 16 words and 9 digits. Today, using voice AI, developers can train neural network models, create human like voices, chatbots and more. The voice AI tech startups space is booming and now encompasses various avenues such as voice analytics, speech recognition, artificial voice synthesis, voice transcription, voice recognition, among others.

Medical workers are our heroes as the COVID-19 outbreak continues with deaths and confirmed cases rising. A CNN survey found that healthcare systems are coming under strain because of the increasing number of patients infected by the coronavirus. Partners Healthcare is supporting patients in the COVID-19 outbreak by using AI to detect those infected and those showing signs of the virus. Healthcare workers at Partners Healthcare understand the current crisis because of high patient numbers experienced and are working round the clock. One question that comes to mind as COVID-19 pandemic continues is: How responsible is the current use of AI to combat the outbreak?

Voysis uses artificial intelligence to improve a digital assistant's ability to understand a person's natural language while shopping. Apple reportedly wants it to help give Siri a boost. Apple has acquired another artificial intelligence startup, according to Bloomberg. Voysis, a Dublin-based startup, will join Apple and aim to improve Siri's ability to understand a person's natural language. It focused on shopping-related voice commands, but Voysis' technology should grow under Apple's guidance to support general inquiries as Siri integrates with other apps.

In keeping with our mission to provide comprehensive advertising analysis, MediaRadar puts together a report of the most important mergers and acquisitions news each week. Stay in the loop, whether you sell advertising space or focus on business development. This week, Gilead takes out FortySeven, Apple acquires start-up Voysis and Infor is purchased by Koch Industries. The American biotechnology company, Gilead has completed an acquisition of Forty Seven, Inc. at a rate of $97.50 per share that equates to a lump sum of $4.9 billion in cash. The deal bolsters Gilead's portfolio of oncology drugs through Forty Seven Inc.'s blood cancer medicine, which is expected to be on the market within 2 years.

Apple has acquired another artificial intelligence startup, according to Bloomberg. Voysis, a Dublin-based startup, will join Apple and aim to improve Siri's ability to understand a person's natural language. It focused on shopping-related voice commands, but Voysis' technology should grow under Apple's guidance to support general inquiries as Siri integrates with other apps. E-commerce companies used Voysis' technology to offer enhanced product search results through their apps. Bloomberg noted an example in which the user utters phrases such as "I need a new LED TV" and "my budget is $1,000."

Apple Inc. acquired Voysis, an artificial intelligence startup that developed a platform for digital voice assistants to better understand people's natural language. Dublin, Ireland-based Voysis focused on improving digital assistants inside online shopping apps, so the software could respond more accurately to voice commands from users. A now-removed company webpage said the technology could narrow product search results by processing shopping phrases such as "I need a new LED TV" and "My budget is $1,000." Voysis provided this AI to other companies to incorporate it into their own apps and voice assistants. An Apple spokesman said the company "buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

Did you ever stop to wonder: What is Amazon not doing with technology? These days, you'd be hard-pressed to answer that question, given the company's incessant schedule for announcing updates and new products. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant is seemingly everywhere--whether it's the latest cloud offerings in AWS, new entertainment shows on Prime, automated retail stores, leased fleets of Boeing jets, smart speakers, payment systems, autonomous cars and trucks, freight forwarding companies, or airborne warehouses. Amazon also happens to have warehouses within 20 miles of 44% of the population of the United States, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. In many of the company's recent announcements, Amazon's voice assistant Alexa plays a central role.