Apple buys Israeli startup in its second-largest deal
Apple Inc. announced on Thursday that it has acquired Israeli startup Q.ai, a software company that implements AI technology for audio, among other applications.
The technology giant did not reveal how much the deal was worth, but a source familiar with the acquisition reportedly said Q.ai was valued at about $1.6 billion.
According to the Financial Times, the deal is worth about $2 billion.
This figure, if correct, would mark Apple’s second-largest acquisition to date, following its purchase of Beats for $3 billion in 2014—which later became its platform for Apple Music.
Q.ai “is a remarkable company that is pioneering new and creative ways to use imaging and machine learning,” Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, Johny Srouji, said in a statement, according to Reuters.
“We’re thrilled to acquire the company, with [CEO Aviad Maizels] at the helm, and are even more excited for what’s to come,” Srouji added.
Maizels, Q.ai’s co-founders Yonatan Wexler and Avi Barliya and the firm’s 100 workers will join Apple.
The Ramat Gan-based Q.ai was founded four years ago.
“Joining Apple opens extraordinary possibilities for pushing boundaries and realising the full potential of what we’ve created, and we’re thrilled to bring these experiences to people everywhere,” Maizels said in a statement.
Maizels’s previous startup, PrimeSense, was also sold to Apple in 2013, Reuters reported.
The three-dimensional sensing firm assisted Apple in transitioning from fingerprint sensors on its iPhones toward facial recognition technology.
Although the tech giant did not say on Thursday how it will utilise Q.ai’s technology, it stated that the Israeli startup’s machine learning-based tools help devices understand whispered speech and enhance audio in noisy environments, as well as analyse facial expressions.
Q.ai’s technology, as evidenced by its filed patents, uses “facial skin micro movements” to communicate without talking, which could enable Apple customers wearing headphones and smart glasses to have non-verbal discussions with an AI assistant, according to the Financial Times.
According to Startup Nation Central’s annual report released on Jan. 22, Israel’s tech industry generated more than $111 billion in capital deals in 2025, nearly quadruple the previous year’s total and surpassing 2021’s previous record levels.
The surge—propelled by mergers, acquisitions and public offerings—underscored renewed global confidence in Israel’s innovation sector, even amid regional challenges. Growth in 2025 was led by productivity and AI-driven efficiency, not workforce expansion, the report said.
JNS
