Apple Acquires Machine Learning Startup Inductiv to Improve Siri

Apple has bought Inductiv Inc., a Canada-based machine learning startup, to work on Siri, machine learning and data science, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

siri waveform

The engineering team from Waterloo, Ontario-based Inductiv joined Apple in recent weeks to work on Siri, machine learning and data science. Apple confirmed the deal, saying it "buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

Besides staff LinkedIn profiles, the startup doesn't have an online presence, but according to the report, the outfit has developed technologoy that uses AI to identify and correct errors in data, which is important for machine learning and belongs to the field of data science.

Apple has previously hired knowledgeable people in the field, including dozens of engineers from consulting firm Silicon Valley Data Science in 2018. Apple is understood to be upgrading the technology that powers ‌Siri‌ and other AI-related products and services.

As Gurman notes, Apple has acquired several other AI and data companies in recent years, including, Tuplejump, Laserlike, Turi and Perceptio. Just this year the company bought Voysis to improve ‌Siri‌'s speech recognition, virtual reality startup NextVR, and popular weather app Dark Sky.

Top Rated Comments

otternonsense Avatar
50 months ago
Too little too late. It's a disgrace that Siri is the very first "smart" assistant to hit the market and it's still as dumb as a bag of dongles.

In my case it cannot even register basic commands like "call dad" when I invoke Siri on the watch, and it constantly pops up at random giving me irrelevant song lyrics or "sorry could not find anything about.." just by picking up random phrases while I'm talking to people.

The only "improvement" Siri has received over the years was poaching Workflow and turning it into 'Shortcuts".
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
itsmilo Avatar
50 months ago
Make siri multi lingual already. Every time I get an iMessage in English to my AirPods I just wanna either die or laugh when it tries to pronounce it the German way.

one of my board games came with a google home and its miles a head of siri. Even the voice sounds more natural and don’t come at me with all the privacy restrictions limiting Siri. If I decide to buy a SMART speaker that LISTENS to me, I guess I am fine with the privacy part anyway.

also the few times I try to send a message with Siri, I spent more time correcting her mistakes than just typing the whole message out myself in the first place
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AgentOSX Avatar
50 months ago
I would be happy if they could just make the home automation voice commands reliable with any of my HomePods. The Siri on those is beyond terrible.

Voice commands never work until 5 minutes after I use the Home app on my iPad/iPhone and the devices are on.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CordovaLark Avatar
50 months ago
At this rate Bixby has bypassed Siri.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drlamb Avatar
50 months ago

I would be happy if they could just make the home automation voice commands reliable with any of my HomePods. The Siri on those is beyond terrible.

Voice commands never work until 5 minutes after I use the Home app on my iPad/iPhone and the devices are on.
Oh my god. I've commented before on having to factory reset my homepods (Stereo pair) to delete an alarm that Siri was adamant wasn't on.


I figured I'd trust Siri again with my alarm this morning but then changed my mind and set an alarm on my iPhone instead. It went like this:

Me: "Hey Siri, turn off my 4am alarm"

Siri: "Okay, your 4am alarm is now off."

4am: Right homepod starts going off. *WTF*

Me: "Hey Siri, STOP!"

Left homepod: "There's nothing playing here!"
Right homepod: Still going off.

It took me shifting over in bed towards the right homepod to get it to turn off. So much for the new update being better.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...