Apple has been on a shopping spree in a bid to soften Siri, according to a new report by GlobalData.
The market research firm says the tech giant bought more AI companies than anyone else between 2016 and 2020.
The second largest AI builder was Irish consultant Accenture. But the rest of the top five were all based in the US.
Google ranked third on the list, followed by Microsoft and Facebook.
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GlobalData found that the four American companies had bought 60 AI companies together – almost half of them (25) captured by Apple.
Nicklas Nilsson, senior analyst at GlobalData, said many of Apple’s contracts were based on Siri:
Machine learning startup Inductiv was acquired to develop Siri data, Irish voice startup Voysis was purchased to promote Siri ‘s understanding of natural language, and PullString should make Siri easier for iOS developers to use. Apple has gone on a shopping trip in attempts to capture Google (Google Supporter) and Amazon (Alexa). Siri was first on the market, but consistently outperforms both in terms of ‘smartness’, which is partly why Apple is far behind in smart speaker sales.
It is not the first study that Apple has named the main AI builder. A 2019 report by CB Insights found that since Siri bought in 2010, Apple had made more AI properties than Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.
Since the iPhone maker does not make all public purchases, the actual number could be even higher.
The AI buying spree reflects Apple’s broader strategy of developing technology through acquisition. Apple chief executive Tim Cook revealed in February that the company has laid out about 100 companies over the past six years – the equivalent of about one purchase every three or four weeks.
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Published March 26, 2021 – 19:57 UTC