Google Inc is making a big bet on augmented reality, leading a US$542 million investment in a shadowy startup called Magic Leap Inc, based in Dania Beach, Florida.
The investment, one of the largest ever made by Google, values Magic Leap at about US$2 billion, according to people briefed on the matter, but not authorized to discuss the deal publicly. Other investors in the round include Qualcomm Ventures, Legendary Entertainment, private equity firm KKR, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreessen Horowitz and Obvious Ventures.
Google’s role as the lead investor is significant. Just seven months ago, Facebook Inc stunned Silicon Valley with a US$2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR Inc, a virtual reality company. Facebook believes that Oculus can be a new sort of operating system as people continue to find new ways to interact with computers.
Google views Magic Leap in much the same way, according to people briefed on the company’s thinking. As people become more comfortable with wearable technology, technologies like Magic Leap — which superimposes animated digital imagery over what someone sees with the naked eye — is likely to become more commonplace.
Already, Google makes a similar technology on its own, Google Glass. Though nascent, Google Glass has attracted enthusiastic early adopters, who use the glasses — which have small computer displays embedded in the lenses — to do simple tasks like search the Internet, take photographs and send messages.
Magic Leap has broader ambitions. On its Web site, the little-known company outlines an ambitious vision for displaying rich interactive graphics alongside what people see naturally, using what it calls a “dynamic digitized lightfield signal.”
“Magic Leap is an eclectic group of visionaries, rocket scientists, wizards and gurus from the fields of film, robotics, visualization, software, computing and user experience,” the company says on its Web site.
As part of the deal, Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of Android, Chrome and Apps, will join the Magic Leap board.
“We are looking forward to Magic Leap’s next stage of growth, and to seeing how it will shape the future of visual computing,” Pichai said.
Qualcomm executive chairman Paul Jacobs and Google vice president of corporate development Don Harrison are to take observer roles on the board.
“We are excited and honored to have such an extraordinary group of investors to help us bring our vision and products to the world,” Magic Leap chief executive Rony Abovitz said.
“Magic Leap is going beyond the current perception of mobile computing, augmented reality and virtual reality. We are transcending all three and will revolutionize the way people communicate, purchase, learn, share and play,” Abovitz added.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
From George Clooney to LeBron James, celebrities in the US have cashed in on tequila’s soaring popularity, but in Mexico, producers of the agave plant used to make the country’s most famous liquor are nursing a nasty hangover. Instead of bringing a long period of prosperity for farmers of the spiky succulent, the tequila boom has created a supply glut that sent agave prices slumping. Mexican tequila exports surged from 224 million liters in 2018 to a record 402 million last year, according to the Tequila Regulatory Council, which oversees qualification for the internationally recognized denomination of origin label. The US, Germany, Spain,
RSS