### Apple Acquires a One-Person AI Startup
A recent filing with the European Union reveals that Apple has obtained the assets of invrs.io and has brought on board its founder, the sole employee. Here are the specifics.
As reported by MacRumors, Apple notified the European Union last October about its intention to “acquire specific assets from and employ the only equityholder and worker of invrs.io LLC,” stating that the firm “develops open-source frameworks for photonics research, offering standardized simulation challenges and a public leaderboard for benchmarking and evaluating design outcomes.”
The founder, Martin Schubert, previously served as a Research Scientist at Meta before establishing invrs.io and has dedicated over ten years to advancements in display, chip, and optical technologies at Google and Micron.
Invrs.io’s GitHub page indicates that it “intends to promote AI-assisted design, initially concentrating on optics—a field essential for components in AR/VR, data centers, self-driving vehicles, and more.” The page further notes that invrs.io is “creating an ecosystem that is open to everyone from AI researchers to optimization experts and optics engineers,” listing several open-source initiatives, such as standardized design challenges, optimization resources, and a public leaderboard.
It remains unclear what Apple’s strategy is for these tools or how Schubert will be utilized within the company. The study of photonics, which involves designing components that control light, is pertinent to a broad array of Apple products, including camera systems, displays, sensors, and LiDAR technology.
Invrs.io’s tools, which appear to leverage AI for simulating and enhancing light behavior in intricate structures, could assist Apple in designing such components for future iPhones, iPads, Apple Vision Pro models, and prospective yet-unrevealed products.