OpenAI Makes Surprise $404.3 Billion-Won Acquisition of Smartphone Camera Startup Glass Imaging

[Financial News] It has been revealed that OpenAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) company, recently acquired Glass Imaging, a startup developing technology to improve smartphone image quality.
On the 14th, local time, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the acquisition, citing multiple industry sources. Although the exact timing was not disclosed, the deal is believed to have been completed within the past several months.
Glass Imaging was valued at more than $300 million, or approximately 404.3 billion won, in the transaction. That is three times its $100 million valuation when it raised funding last year. The company combines hardware with AI algorithms to produce high-resolution images comparable to those from a DSLR, despite using a smartphone camera.
Glass Imaging was co-founded in 2019 by Jiv Atar and Tom Bishop, camera technology experts formerly with Apple. The two, who previously led the development of Apple’s Portrait mode, concluded that advances in smartphone camera performance had reached a plateau. They left Apple to pursue the development of groundbreaking image-processing technology. Glass Imaging raised approximately $30 million from investors including Google Ventures and Insight Partners. It also drew attention recently by supplying zoom-imaging technology for a new smartphone from Chinese brand Honor.
Industry observers are interpreting the acquisition in connection with OpenAI’s next-generation hardware strategy. OpenAI is secretly developing a next-generation AI device with Jony Ive, the former chief design officer of Apple and a renowned designer of the iPhone. Last year, OpenAI acquired Ive’s startup, io products, for $6.5 billion, or approximately 8.76 trillion won, bringing him into the company.
OpenAI, which is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) next year, is accelerating the expansion of its portfolio. It has successively acquired the live-streaming platform TBPN and an open-source developer-tools startup. OpenAI has declined to comment on its specific plans for Glass Imaging, but the prevailing view is that the acquisition is intended to help bring visual perception capabilities—beyond text and voice—to its next-generation hardware.


[email protected] Yoon Jae-jun Reporter