Now your iPhone will have videos compressed by AI

Apple has quietly acquired WaveOne, a Mountain View-based startup that was developing AI algorithms for compressing video. 

Although Apple has not confirmed the acquisition, several former employees, including one of WaveOne’s co-founders, now work within Apple’s various machine-learning groups. WaveOne’s main innovation was a “content-aware” video compression and decompression algorithm that could run on the AI accelerators built into many phones and an increasing number of PCs. 

Leveraging AI-powered scene and object detection, the startup’s technology could essentially “understand” a video frame, allowing it to prioritize faces and other elements within a scene to save bandwidth. Investors saw the potential, and prior to the Apple acquisition, WaveOne attracted $9 million from backers, including Khosla Ventures, Vela Partners, Incubate Fund, Omega Venture Partners, and Blue Ivy. 

So what might Apple want with an AI-powered video codec? The answer is simple: more efficient streaming. Even minor improvements in video compression could save on bandwidth costs or enable services like Apple TV+ to deliver higher resolutions and framerates depending on the type of content being streamed. 

Stay tuned for more updates on how Apple plans to utilize WaveOne’s technology to enhance its services.
 

Written By

Manish Content Strategist

With a mixture of literature, cinema, and photography, Manish is mostly traveling. When he is not, he is probably writing another tech news for you!

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