Apple Acquires WaveOne Startup Working on AI-Powered Video Compression

Apple recently acquired WaveOne, a California-based startup that was developing AI algorithms for video compression, according to TechCrunch.

WaveOne Apple
Apple did not confirm the acquisition, but former WaveOne executive Bob Stankosh said a "sale of the company to Apple" was finalized earlier this year. In addition, the report notes that WaveOne's website was taken offline around January and that several of the company's employees now work at Apple on various machine learning teams.

WaveOne was working on "content-aware" video compression and decompression algorithms to reduce the size of video files, according to the report:

Leveraging AI-powered scene and object detection, the startup's technology could essentially "understand" a video frame — allowing it to, for example, prioritize faces at the expense of other elements within a scene to save bandwidth.

It's unclear how much Apple paid for WaveOne or when the startup's technologies might be integrated into Apple's software platforms.

Top Rated Comments

markfc Avatar
10 weeks ago
Middle out compression here we come! ?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kenny911 Avatar
10 weeks ago
Someone finally acquired Pied Piper
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Vol Braakzakje Avatar
10 weeks ago
They should invest in AI to improve Siri instead of more compression...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bankshot Avatar
10 weeks ago
If this is prioritizing faces over other scene elements, it sounds like the primary application will be for FaceTime over very low bandwidth connections. Doesn't sound like anything that would be used for general compression of video files or for streaming like TV+.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WestonHarvey1 Avatar
10 weeks ago

Middle out compression here we come! ?
I hope it has a high D2F ratio
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Adoniram Avatar
10 weeks ago
Interesting… AI-based upscaling programs have come a long way (see: Topaz VEAI) and I use them with varied success.

If you could use a known compression algorithm, and train an upscaling (or decompression) algorithm based SOLELY on that known compression, I could see truly remarkable results. Platforms like YouTube would really benefit, especially if the decompression algorithm became a standardized part of various OSes or apps.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

gradiente iphone white

Brazilian Electronics Company Revives Long-Running iPhone Trademark Dispute

Tuesday May 19, 2020 1:06 pm PDT by
Apple has been involved in a long-running iPhone trademark dispute in Brazil, which was revived today by IGB Electronica, a Brazilian consumer electronics company that originally registered the "iPhone" name in 2000. IGB Electronica fought a multi-year battle with Apple in an attempt to get exclusive rights to the "iPhone" trademark, but ultimately lost, and now the case has been brought to...