Google acquires image recognition company Moodstocks

Google has announced that it has acquired image recognition company Moodstocks, a Paris, France-based team of engineers and researchers that develop visual recognition algorithms and machine learningtechniques.

Moodstocks machine learning-based image recognition technology is developed for smartphones whose APIs for developers have been described as "Shazam for images," according to TechCrunch.Moodstocks’ API and SDK will soon be discontinued, with a new focus on building great image recognition tools within Google at scale.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but as TechCrunch points out, and as we covered in June, Twitter recently purchased Magic Pony Technology for $150 million. Magic Pony develops novel machine learning techniques for visual processing, and is set to join Twitter Cortex, a team of engineers, data scientists, and machine learning researchers dedicated to building a product in which people can easily find new experiences to share and participate in, according to a Twitter blog.

Moodstocks, however, has been around since 2008, whereas Magic Pony was a new company.

"Ever since we started Moodstocks, our dream has been to give eyes to machines by turning cameras into smart sensors able to make sense of their surroundings," the company noted in a press release on its website.

In a Google blog post, the company notes that they are excited to add Moodstocks to their center of research and development in Paris, which was launched in 2011. In a translated blog post, Google France says they continue their machine learning and research efforts, and Moodstocks is further proof of this commitment.

View the Moodstocks press release.
View the Google France blog post.

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