Apple Acquires Q.ai for Reported $2B in Second-Largest Deal
Is Apple's Q.ai acquisition a savvy leap in the AI race or a dangerous expansion of surveillance technology?
Above: Apple CEO Tim Cook at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, 2026. Image credit: Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
This acquisition is a savvy leap in the AI race, boosting Apple’s ambitions in lip-reading, facial recognition, and more intuitive device control. The reported $2 billion deal underscores how successful Israeli startups have fueled innovation for global giants like Apple, helping it recover from setbacks and strengthen its future AI leadership.
Establishment-critical narrative
Apple is importing Israeli surveillance-linked technology into consumer devices, raising alarms about biometric monitoring, emotion detection and facial micro-movement tracking embedded in everyday products. It also reflects a troubling pattern of Big Tech profiting off of and enabling Israel's unethical military tech industry.