Bloomberg – March 24, 2019 8:46 PM • 3 minute read
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TEL AVIV: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has acquired Israeli startup Infinity Augmented Reality, after investing in the company three years ago.
InfinityAR will join Alibaba’s Israel Machine Vision Laboratory, according to a release dated Thursday on the startup’s website.
Financial details were not disclosed, but Alibaba paid more than US$10 million, according to an estimate from market sources cited by Globes.
“The talented team brings unique know-how in sensor fusion, computer vision and navigation technologies,” lab head Lihi Zelnik-Manor said in the release.
The startup says it can turn AR glasses into a “powerful content augmentation platform.”
It had previously raised US$18 million from Alibaba and Japanese firm Sun in 2016.
The acquisition comes during a time of heightened scrutiny over the role of Chinese investment in Israel.
US officials have raised the prospect of a body to vet investments similar to the US Committee on Foreign Investment.