The move will further Facebook’s AI capabilities and is likely to be implemented in its online market platform, Facebook Marketplace.
Social media giant, Facebook, Inc. has recently announced its acquisition of GrokStyle, a San Francisco-based start-up that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enables users to find a product online just by capturing its picture. Sources claim that the acquisition of the visual shopping and AI startup will help the social media giant to boost its AI expertise.
According to CNBC, a Facebook spokesperson, Vanessa Chan, said that the company is delighted to welcome GrokStyle to its team. The spokesperson said that GrokStyle’s team and technology will effectively contribute to Facebook’s AI capabilities. However, the financial terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.
Reportedly, the move follows GrokStyle’s recently published goodbye post specifically dedicated for its users, customers and investors, which said that the company was shutting down its business. On its website, the firm announced that it is moving on and its team and technology and will continue using its AI expertise to build new visual search experiences for retail.
For the record, GrokStyle’s AI technology, which was integrated into Ikea’s mobile app, allows users to take a picture of a piece of furniture which the technology then matches to similar products that could be purchased online.
Sources claim the Facebook has not yet announced specific plans to use the GrokStyle technology. However, it makes sense for the company to use it for Facebook Marketplace, the social media giant’s online marketplace platform that allows users to buy and sell items to other Facebook users on its social network.
Incidentally, this would mark Facebook’s second acquisition in 2019, as recently the company bought the team behind blockchain technology firm Chainspace. In addition, Facebook has reportedly purchased at least four firms in 2018, which includes messaging and AI-based startups as well, cite sources.
