Apple is in advanced discussions to acquire technology and key employees from computer vision firm Prompt AI, reports CNBC, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The talks focus on transferring Prompt’s engineering team and software assets into Apple rather than completing a full-company acquisition, according to audio from an internal Prompt meeting reviewed by CNBC.
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Prompt’s leadership informed staff of the pending transaction at an all‑hands meeting on 9 October 2025, and advised employees to keep the situation confidential while they seek other roles or inform friends and family, the audio indicates.
Managers said staff who do not join Apple will be paid a reduced salary and were encouraged to apply for open positions at Prompt during the transition, the recording shows.
Executives said investors will receive some payment from the transaction but “won’t be made whole,” according to the meeting.
Attendees reported that other suitors, including Elon Musk’s xAI and Neuralink, had approached Prompt about possible deals.
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By GlobalDataFounded in 2023, Prompt secured $5m in a seed round held during the same year. This early funding round was led by AIX and Abstract Ventures.
The company is led by co‑founders Tete Xiao, its CEO and a University of California, Berkeley computer science PhD, and Trevor Darrell, its president and a founder of the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) lab.
Prompt’s primary product, Seemour is designed to connect to home security cameras. It adds computer vision features that identify specific people, pets and objects, generate text descriptions of activity and send alerts.
Company leaders told staff that while the technology and app worked as intended, the business model had failed.
They plan to retire Seemour and notify users that their data will be deleted and handled in line with privacy commitments, executives said.
Sources familiar with the talks said Prompt’s technology and personnel would likely be folded into Apple’s HomeKit smart home division if the agreement proceeds.
The discussions illustrate a pattern in which large tech firms acquire small AI teams and assets to integrate capability into existing products.
Such transactions have tended to be smaller than recent high‑profile deals in the sector, such as Meta’s $14.3bn investment in Scale AI and Google’s $2.4bn arrangement tied to Windsurf.
