Apple quietly absorbed a company that makes AI cameras for people's homes

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Apple quietly absorbed a company that makes AI cameras for people's homes

Lighthouse camera

Lighthouse

One of Lighthouse's original AI-driven security cameras.

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  • Apple has quietly absorbed AI home security camera firm Lighthouse AI after buying its patents, according to The Information.
  • The move follows Apple's November 2018 acquisition of Silk Labs, another startup which has developed home security tech.
  • Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Earlier this month, Apple reportedly bought the patents of Lighthouse AI, a maker of AI-powered home security cameras. Now, The Information reports that Lighthouse's cofounders have joined Apple, along with around 20 staff.

According to The Information, Lighthouse cofounders Alex Teichman and Hendrik Dahlkamp sent an email to the company's former camera testers asking for permission to transfer video and sensor data collected through its cameras to Apple.

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A recent Lighthouse project involved collecting that data and using it to train its machine learning algorithms to recognize people in domestic environments, The Information said. Teichman, Dahlkamp, and the 20 software staff will now resume this project at Apple, it added.

Teichman posted a short message on Lighthouse's website, titled "Lights out." He said: "Unfortunately, we did not achieve the commercial success we were looking for and will be shutting down operations in the near future."

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Lighthouse is not the first company Apple has acquired that develops home security-focused AI. In November 2018, Apple bought Silk Labs, a startup which develops various machine learning technologies, including people detection and facial recognition.

Apple's recent focus on AI-driven home security technology forms part of a wider tech industry embrace of so-called smart or connected homes, which contain a high number of AI-driven and machine-to-machine devices.

A Cisco report estimates that connected home applications, such as home automation, home security, and video surveillance, connected white goods, and tracking applications, will represent 48% of the total machine-to-machine connections by 2022. A study by connected home software developer Metova found that more than 90% of people in the US owned at least one connected home device as of May 2018.

Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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