Apple is, among the big techs, the champion of acquisitions of companies specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), beating rivals such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft. It’s a GlobalData search to highlight the primacy of the Cupertino company in the sector.
The data shows that Apple has 25 AI acquisitions in the period 2016-2020, in a context in which the US tech giants dominate the global market. Only Accenture, a multinational group based in Dublin, Ireland, is able to keep up, ranking second in the special GlobalData ranking.
Overall, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook total 60 acquisitions in a key sector, such as artificial intelligence, characterized by increasingly fierce competition.
The United States, underlines Nicklas Nilsson, Senior Analyst of GlobalData, is still the leading country but they have to face l’China’s relentless rise in this strategic area of international competition.
In order to obtain a privileged position, the technological giants, in recent years, have intensified the race for acquisitions. Apple, in particular, has acted more decisively, at various levels, managing to grab it within 6 years, around 100 companies. The company headed by Tim Cook has taken over artificial intelligence start-ups such as Drive.ai and Lighthouse AI with the intent to improve products and services.
After appropriating the Siri, many of Apple’s subsequent acquisitions have had the primary goal of developing the smart assistant, specifically to keep up with Google and Amazon. The Irish start-up Voysis, for example, was incorporated to improve the ability to understand natural language. While Apple has taken over Inductive to make sure its technology can identify and correct errors in the data. And PullString, on the other hand, has been acquired to make it easier to use Siri and compete more effectively with Alexa.