Meta acquires AI wearables startup Limitless to boost smart devices

By Agence France-Presse

Meta acquires AI wearables startup Limitless to boost smart devices

SAN FRANCISCO: Meta has confirmed its acquisition of US artificial intelligence wearables startup Limitless.

The deal, finalised on Friday, sees Meta take over the Denver-based firm behind an AI-powered pendant that records and summarises conversations.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"We're excited that Limitless will be joining Meta to help accelerate our work to build AI-enabled wearables," a Meta spokesperson said.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has prioritised developing AI, aiming to achieve "superintelligence" at the social media giant.

Meta is already using AI to enhance its Facebook and Instagram apps and to improve its smartglasses made with EssilorLuxottica.

"Meta recently announced a new vision to bring personal superintelligence to everyone and a key part of that vision is building incredible AI-enabled wearables," said Limitless co-founder and CEO Dan Siroker.

"We share this vision and we'll be joining Meta to help bring our shared vision to life."

According to Pitchbook, Limitless has raised a total of USD 33 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.

The startup was valued at USD 368 million during its latest funding round in 2023.

"We're no longer working on a weird fringe idea," Siroker said of the evolving tech landscape.

"We're building a future that now seems inevitable."

Zuckerberg has launched an aggressive recruitment drive to support his AI ambitions, attracting executives from OpenAI, Apple and Google.

Meta invested heavily in Scale AI earlier this year, bringing its co-founder Alexandr Wang on board to lead a new unit called Superintelligence Labs.

The Limitless acquisition appears to be Meta's first major purchase since it finalised its buyout of virtual reality firm Within Unlimited in 2023.

US regulators had attempted to block the Within deal over competition concerns, but a court rejected their challenge.

That courtroom loss was seen as a setback for then-FTC head Lina Khan, a proponent of stricter antitrust scrutiny for Big Tech.

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