Facebook was recently rumoured to be in talks to buy facial recognition website Face.com. The rumours in this case were correct as Face.com has confirmed the acquisition on their website.
Face.com was reportedly bought for between $55 and $60 million, though initially it was thought that Facebook had shelled out closer to $100 million for the company.
According to the blog post confirming the sale, Face.com couldn’t be happier with Facebook’s deal. Face.com CEO Gil Hirsch writes:
“We love building products, and like our friends at Facebook, we think that mobile is a critical part of people’s lives as they both create and consume content, and share contentwith their social graph. By working with Facebook directly, and joining their team, we’ll have more opportunities to build amazing products that will be employed by consumers – that’s all we’ve ever wanted to do.”
Facebook should, as a result of the acquisition, be able to offer more advanced facial recognition features to its users than it could in the past. What isn’t clear is whether Face.com will cease to exist in its current form following Facebook’s purchase.
Source: Digital Trends