Image Credits:<\/strong> WaveOne<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

WaveOne\u2019s main innovation was a \u201ccontent-aware\u201d video compression and decompression algorithm that could run on the AI accelerators built into many phones and an increasing number of PCs. Leveraging AI-powered scene and object detection, the startup\u2019s technology could essentially \u201cunderstand\u201d a video frame, allowing it to, for example, prioritize faces at the expense of other elements within a scene to save bandwidth.<\/p>\n

WaveOne also claimed that its video compression tech was robust to sudden disruptions in connectivity. That is to say, it could make a \u201cbest guess\u201d based on whatever bits it had available, so when bandwidth was suddenly restricted, the video wouldn\u2019t freeze; it\u2019d just show less detail for the duration.<\/p>\n

WaveOne claimed its approach, which was hardware-agnostic, could reduce the size of video files by as much as half, with better gains in more complex scenes.<\/p>\n

Investors saw the potential, apparently. Prior to the Apple acquisition, WaveOne attracted $9 million from backers including Khosla Ventures, Vela Partners, Incubate Fund, Omega Venture Partners and Blue Ivy.<\/p>\n

So what might Apple want with an AI-powered video codec? Well, the obvious answer is more efficient streaming. Even minor improvements in video compression could save on bandwidth costs, or enable services like Apple TV+ to deliver higher resolutions and framerates depending on the type of content being streamed.<\/p>\n