Facebook acquires visual shopping startup to bolster AI work

(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 05, 2019 the Facebook logo is displayed on a tablet in Paris. - Facebook users should be asked for consent before data collected by the group's subsidiaries Whatsapp and Instagram and on third-party websites is combined with their social network account, Germany's competition authority said on February 7, 2019. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

Facebook Inc said it acquired visual shopping and artificial intelligence startup GrokStyle Inc in a move to bolster the social-media company’s own AI work. 

GrokStyle’s technology, which was integrated into Ikea’s mobile app, was simple in practice. A user takes a picture of a piece of furniture and the technology would match it to similar products that could be purchased online. On its website, GrokStyle said it is “winding down” its business, but that it is “moving on as a team” along with its technology. The company didn’t disclose it’s joining Facebook.