Apple acquires Israeli AI startup Q.ai

Apple has acquired Israeli AI startup Q.ai , marking the second time a Q.ai CEO has sold a company to Apple.

Apple acquires Israeli audio AI startup Q.ai | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/business/apple-acquires-audio-ai-startup-qai-2026-01-29/

Apple buys Israeli start-up Q.AI for close to $2bn in race to build AI devices
https://www.ft.com/content/49f4e2e4-3a68-4842-be67-879409d06aa1

Apple buys Israeli startup Q.ai as the AI race heats up | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/29/apple-buys-israeli-startup-q-ai-as-the-ai-race-heats-up/

Reuters reports that Apple has acquired Q.ai, a company that specializes in image processing and machine learning, particularly techniques that can interpret whispers and enhance speech in noisy environments. Apple has added new AI features to its AirPods, including live translation capabilities.

AirPods live translation will support Japanese at the end of 2025, but it won't be available in the EU - GIGAZINE

Q.ai is also developing technology to detect subtle facial muscle movements, which could help enhance Apple Vision Pro, according to TechCrunch.

According to the Financial Times, the acquisition is valued at nearly $2 billion, making it Apple's second-largest acquisition to date, after its 2014 purchase of headphone maker Beats for $3 billion.

Apple officially acquires headphone maker 'Beats' for approximately 300 billion yen - GIGAZINE

Notably, this marks the second time Q.ai CEO Aviad Meisels has sold a company to Apple. Meisels was the co-founder of PrimeSense, a 3D sensing technology company that played a key role in the iPhone's transition from Touch ID fingerprint authentication to Face ID facial recognition in 2013.

Apple acquires company developing Kinect 3D sensor technology - GIGAZINE

By Ian Usher

Q.ai is an AI startup founded in 2022 and has received investment from American venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins and Gradient Ventures . The founding team, including Meisels, Yonatan Wechsler, and Avi Barliya, will join Apple as part of the acquisition.

Apple's acquisition of Q.ai was reported before the company announced its first-quarter financial results.