January 29, 2026
Congratulations Q.ai Team!
Most voice interfaces share the same constraint: you have to speak out loud. Q.ai spent years working on a solution that allows your device to understand what you are saying, even when you don't make a sound.
While Q.ai remains in stealth mode even after their exit to Apple, it is known that the Company developed a technology that interprets subvocalized speech. The technology converts those key facial signals into text — in real-time — with accuracy that surprised even people who'd been working in the space for years. Q.ai's patent filings describe methods for detecting intent to speak without actually speaking out loud.
Q.ai's founding team brought unusual depth to bear on the problem:
● Aviad Maizels, the CEO, previously founded PrimeSense, the 3D sensing company Apple acquired in 2013 to build Face ID.
● Yonatan Wexler, the CTO, led R&D at OrCam, where he worked on computer vision systems for the visually impaired.
● Roughly 100 employees, mostly specialists in computer vision and human-computer interaction, worked together for years refining an approach that others had tried and abandoned.
At Corner, we were proud to be an early investor in Q.ai. Q.ai fit a pattern we look for: an exceptionally strong team with unique technical expertise, building a pioneering new technology that'll be the foundation for a new area of the economy.
Apple's Acquisition
Apple's acquisition of Q.ai—for between $1.5 and $2 billion—marks their second-largest deal ever. Q.ai's technology is expected to power Apple's next generation of wearables, which will allow users to interact with AI assistants silently and privately.
For the Q.ai team, joining Apple means their work will reach billions of users, integrated into products at a scale few startups ever achieve.
Congratulations to Aviad, Yonatan, and the entire Q.ai team on an extraordinary outcome. The Corner team is proud to celebrate your well-deserved achievement!
