Is Apple Leading the On-Device AI Race? French Firm Acquisition Hints at Major iPhone Changes

Apple has recently acquired another AI firm that has been trying to reduce the size of large language models for the iPhone. This news comes right after Apple secretly bought up the Canadian AI startup DarwinAI at the start of 2024.

Datakaleb is a company that is working on AI that can be used for facial recognition. The company is based in Park Monceau and is within two miles of the Apple Opera store in Paris.

Datakalab teamed up with the French government in May 2020 to deploy AI tools into Paris transportation systems to check if people were wearing face masks. The company has also worked with Disney and other partners in the past.

While neither Apple nor DatakaLab have acknowledged the acquisition, it is said that the deal was reported to the European Commission this month. The report says that Datakalab’s two founders did not join Apple, but multiple other employees did make the jump. 

Datakalab also held multiple patents related to AI compression and vision technology. The acquisition comes as Apple is expected to bring a suite of AI features to iOS 18 later this year. 

The company has also been working on developing advanced vision-based technology, which could play a role in Apple’s Vision Pro ambitions into the future. The company’s advanced facial recognition technology could also contribute to things like photos and Face ID.