Tech giant Apple has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup developing "pre-speech" technology, for nearly $2 billion in what is described as the second-biggest deal in the company's history. The purchase has drawn scrutiny due to the firm's ties to Israeli military units and the involvement of its employees in operations in Gaza.
Q.ai, which lacks a commercial product and generates no revenues, maintains a website consisting of a single page with just 15 words. The company specializes in sensors that detect imperceptible facial movements to interpret words a person is thinking before they are spoken aloud, a technology dubbed "silent speech" or "pre-speech."
The startup was founded by Aviad Maizels, Avi Barliya, and Yonatan Wexler, individuals with backgrounds in Israeli military intelligence. Maizels served as a former commander of Unit 81, an IDF division responsible for building Israel's offensive cyber weapons.
Barliya is listed on his LinkedIn profile as a former intelligence officer in the Israeli air force, while Wexler previously worked as an agent in Unit 8200, a prominent Israeli signals intelligence unit.
Tom Hulme, an executive at Google Ventures—one of Q.ai's early investors—revealed in a blog post announcing the deal that 30% of the company's more than 100 staff members were called up to participate in operations in Gaza.
The acquisition highlights Apple's growing investments in advanced AI and human-computer interface technologies, even as questions arise about the backgrounds of personnel at the acquired firm.
