Apple’s $2 Billion Startup Acquisition Is Its Biggest Since Beats — And Will Completely Change How You Use Your Phone
The startup uses a mix of audio processing and imaging to read subtle facial expressions.
Key Takeaways
- Apple made its biggest deal since Beats earlier this week, spending nearly $2 billion to acquire audio AI startup Q.ai.
- Q.ai focuses on interpreting whispered and even silent speech, leading to non-verbal Siri commands down the road, where Siri interprets a facial expression and infers what to do.
- The acquisition arrives alongside a record-breaking quarter, in which Apple’s first quarter 2026 revenue jumped 16% year-over-year.
Apple’s nearly $2 billion purchase of audio AI startup Q.ai marks its largest deal since Beats. The agreement arrives just as Apple posts record quarterly results.
Q.ai specializes in machine learning techniques that let devices interpret whispered or silent speech and enhance audio in noisy environments. The startup uses a mix of audio processing and imaging to read subtle facial expressions.
According to sources cited by The Financial Times, Apple is paying close to $2 billion for the company, making it Apple’s second-largest acquisition ever after the $3 billion Beats deal in 2014. Apple confirmed the purchase to Reuters earlier this week.
Q.ai has kept a low profile and has not shipped consumer products. Still, its patents suggest technology that can detect tiny movements in facial skin to infer speech and emotional state, according to The Financial Times.
The acquisition paves the way for silent or near-silent control of Siri, using facial movements rather than audible speech. This capability could allow users to interact with Siri on their devices on a crowded subway or in a meeting without speaking out loud.
Around 100 Q.ai employees will join Apple’s hardware technologies group, per The Financial Times. The move indicates that the technology will be deeply integrated into future Apple devices rather than launched as a standalone product, according to the publication.
When Apple bought Beats, the goal was to acquire a popular headphone brand. By contrast, Q.ai is an infrastructure bet: Apple is less interested in a brand and more in the technology that can make future wearables and devices feel more natural to use, according to The Tech Buzz.
Apple’s strong financial ground
The acquisition of Q.ai lands in the middle of a particularly strong financial stretch for Apple. The iPhone maker reported record revenue on Thursday of about $143.88 billion in its fiscal first quarter of 2026, covering the holiday period. Revenue was up 16% year-over-year.
iPhone and Services both hit all-time revenue highs, driven by what CEO Tim Cook described to CNBC as “staggering” iPhone demand. iPhone revenue in the quarter was $85.2 billion, an all-time high and a 23% increase from $69.1 billion at the same time last year.
“iPhone had its best-ever quarter driven by unprecedented demand, with all-time records across every geographic segment,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release on Thursday. “We are also excited to announce that our installed base now has more than 2.5 billion active devices.”
Mac revenue declined about 7% year over year despite new MacBook Pro models, while iPad revenue grew around 6% to 8.6 billion, with roughly half of buyers new to the product.
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Key Takeaways
- Apple made its biggest deal since Beats earlier this week, spending nearly $2 billion to acquire audio AI startup Q.ai.
- Q.ai focuses on interpreting whispered and even silent speech, leading to non-verbal Siri commands down the road, where Siri interprets a facial expression and infers what to do.
- The acquisition arrives alongside a record-breaking quarter, in which Apple’s first quarter 2026 revenue jumped 16% year-over-year.
Apple’s nearly $2 billion purchase of audio AI startup Q.ai marks its largest deal since Beats. The agreement arrives just as Apple posts record quarterly results.
Q.ai specializes in machine learning techniques that let devices interpret whispered or silent speech and enhance audio in noisy environments. The startup uses a mix of audio processing and imaging to read subtle facial expressions.
