Apple quietly acquired AI startup Spectral Edge to beef up the iPhone camera
- Apple quietly acquired UK AI startup Spectral Edge.
- A university spinout, Spectral Edge specialises in AI tech which sharpens up photographs taken on hazy days.
- The amount Apple paid for Spectral Edge is unknown, but last year the company raised more than $5 million in funding.
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Apple has snapped up another startup in an apparent bid to juice up the iPhone camera.
Filings spotted by Bloomberg on Thursday show Apple quietly acquired Spectral Edge, a British AI startup that spun out of the University of East Anglia in 2014.
In 2016 Spectral Edge invented Phusion, a computation photography technique which uses infrared light imperticeptible to the human eye to sharpen up smartphone photos and restore color, especially in pictures taken on hazy or foggy days.
The filings from Companies House show that Apple lawyer Peter Denwood took over as secretary of Spectral Edge last month.
Apple has not yet commented on the acquisition, and the amount it paid for Spectral Edge is unknown. Last year Spectral Edge announced a $5 million funding round.
This is not Apple's first AI acquisition this year. In July it reportedly bought Drive.ai, a self-driving technology startup valued at $200 million prior to the acquisition, and in March it was reported to have bought AI-powered home security camera company Lighthouse AI.
Apple has a habit of quietly collecting smaller companies. In May last year CEO Tim Cook said in interview that the company had bought 20 companies in the previous six months, of which only six were public knowledge.
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