A report from business cable channel CNBC says that Apple is closing in on the purchase of computer vision start up Prompt AI. The company is focused on computer vision Artificial Intelligence, and it has a flagship application called Seemour (See more, get it?) which uses AI to improve a home security camera. Seemour can detect specific people, pets, and objects. It will send alerts and text-based messages that describe unusual activity taking place in front of the camera.
Apple is on the verge of purchasing Prompt AI for an unknown price
The report said that the company’s leaders, in an all-hands meeting held on Thursday, told employees that a deal with Apple was pending. Audio of the meeting, heard by CNBC, said that those who don’t join Apple will receive reduced pay and should apply for open positions at the company.
Interestingly, Apple beat out other AI companies for Prompt AI including Elon Musk’s xAI and Neuralink. During the meeting, executives said that those who invested money in Prompt AI will receive some payout but won’t get back the total amount of their original investment. Employees were also told that when looking for new jobs or discussing their situation with friends and family, they should not mention Apple.
Prompt AI co-founder and CEO Tete Xiao explained to employees at the meeting that the company’s technology is working fine as is the Seemour app. The problem, Xiao sad, is that the company’s business model is not working. As a result, the Seemour app is going to shut down and the data belonging to users of the app will be deleted and privacy protected. The talent and technology being acquired by Apple are expected to end up as part of Apple’s HomeKit smart home division.
The Seemour app has been removed from the App Store
The Seemour app was available from the App Store but it appears that Apple has removed it, which would seem to confirm that Apple is buying Prompt AI.
For Apple, the goal is to pick up top AI talent from Prompt AI, which currently has 11 employees. If the deal is done, Apple will also get the company’s technology. The value of the rumored transaction has not been discussed. As we’ve told you many times before, Apple eschews doing large deals even if it can afford to make a big splash. The biggest transaction in Apple history was the $3 billion acquisition of Beats Audio in May, 2014.
While Apple picked up the Beats headphones division, the tech giant was really after streaming music site Beats Audio that had only 111,000 paying subscribers four months before the deal was announced. Apple turned Beats Audio into Apple Music. The latter had 108 million paid subscribers during Q1 2025.
The company has been roundly criticized for lagging behind others when it comes to AI. Apple Intelligence, the firm’s AI initiative, has been a fiasco and key parts of the feature that are attached to Siri have been delayed. What’s being dubbed as “personal Siri,” technology that will allow Siri to look at your iPhone display to see what information you need and retrieve it from your email, browser, Messages app, Photos and Calendars apps, is expected to be ready next spring with the release of iOS 26.4.
Apple’s shares take a beating although this deal is not to blame
While Apple hasn’t wowed anyone with its generative AI features, it did impress many with the technology behind its Vision Pro spatial computer. While the starting price of $3,499 scared many people away, the computer vision technology in the Vision Pro headset is considered a success. The iPhone currently can let users know which pets, friends and relatives, and objects are in photos taken by the user of the device.
Apple’s shares dropped $8.77 or 3.45% today although you can’t blame the decline on the deal. The U.S. announced that it would raise its tariffs on products imported from China to 100%. This would surely force Apple to pass on some of the additional import tax cost to U.S. consumers and many Americans could be priced out of the market. Some might have to hold on to their older model for longer than they intended or purchase a less expensive Android phone.
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