A low-profile firm that makes software to create virtual avatars has been acquired by Apple, perhaps to improve Personas in Apple Vision Pro.
Following its acquisition of firms that may help with new features in Apple Creator Studio, Apple has now also bought a firm that specializes in avatars. Animato, Inc, develops avatar software specifically for use in video chats and lessons.
The company appears to have no website, unless Apple has already removed it, and no social media presence. According to LinkedIn, it was formed by Francesco Rossi in October 2022, and is based in the San Francisco area.
That same LinkedIn profile shows that Rossi previously worked for seven years at Apple. He started in May 2015 in a Computer Vision department, where he says he led "the work on the framework that runs inference of the deep learning networks that power the face and scene recognition features in Photos."
He later progressed to being a software engineering manager, and then to work on "cool projects" in AI and Machine Learning in 2021. He left to work for himself in 2022.
Apple's acquisition of Animato, Inc, was revealed by the European Union as part of its Digital Markets Act. Firms such as Apple are required to report on acquisitions that the EU may consider significant to users in its region.
The EU states that it makes its listings public no sooner than four months after receipt of the information. In this case, it has also dated the acquisition of Animato, Inc, to January 19, 2026.
That's most likely the date that Apple filed its details, rather than necessarily when it completed the acquisition. But it still comes as Apple continues to acquire firms in the AI and image industries.
