You can already unlock your iPhone with a photo of your face, but Apple appears to be getting serious about facial recognition and AI

Apple has quietly acquired edge-based AI startup Xnorai for $200 million, a move first reported by GeekWire that could help the Cupertino company compete with Google in big tech's attempt to move artificial learning out of the cloud It could position the company

Xnorai is a three-year-old startup that specializes in machine learning and facial recognition programs that run on consumer devices rather than in the cloud xnorai's AI was recently used in Wyze's home security cameras, but was It was removed after the company was acquired by Apple [However, because cloud-based AI requires the transmission of private communications, such as Siri voice recordings, it is considered more secure to have the feature built into the camera than to rely on the cloud [The company has a reputation for scooping up innovative startups with sexy technology, like AR glasses maker Akonia Holographics; Xnorai made Forbes' list of "Most Promising AI Companies" this September, making it a worthy target It joins Akonia's ranks

Xnorai's technology should give Apple edge computing capabilities, consistent with the company's recent claims about protecting user data

Google is ahead of Apple in machine learning chips Google Assistants use chips in the Pixel 4 phone and Nest Mini smart speaker to send voice recordings to the cloud and receive improvements on them

And while the iPhone's A12 Bionic chip supports some machine learning, the Xnorai acquisition suggests that Apple's future smartphones will be more capable of handling AI on their devices

In a Deloitte report, analysts predict that more than 750 million edge AI chips and computers will be sold this year, mostly in consumer electronics products like smartphones; by 2024, that number is expected to grow to 15 billion

Google, meanwhile, is developing its own edge-based AI initiative, Coral, which exited beta in October and aims to provide prototyping support and modules that can be used beyond consumer electronics

However, Apple is determined to take command in the AI space, leading all tech companies in AI-related acquisitions in 2019; according to CBInsights, Apple's AI binge has overtaken Google's growth in the category

So while there is reason to suspect that Xnor's AI-enabled image recognition tools will infiltrate future iPhone and Mac webcams, it is likely not the final play in Apple's bid to surpass Google