Google has acquired Emu, a start-up based in Palo Alto, California, that developed a texting application for the iPhone with a built-in, Siri-like assistant. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The Emu application uses machine learning and natural language processing to interpret the meaning the message and then add to the calendar, create a lunch reservation, share location, etc.
Google plans to shut down the application as of 25-August-2014.
- Emu was founded in 2012 by Gummi Hafsteinsson (formerly VP Product Siri, previously at Apple and Google), Dave Feldman (previously with AOL/TechCrunch and Yahoo!), and an experienced team of mobile and machine-learning engineers. The company has received seed funding of $1.5M to date from Kleiner Perkins, TriplePoint Capital, Menlo Ventures, DFJ, and additional angel investors.
