Tech Explained: Here’s a simplified explanation of the latest technology update around Tech Explained: Big Tech’s AI shopping spree in 2025: Who bought what in Simple Termsand what it means for users..
The shopping spree revealed clear underlying trends, most notably the growing importance of acqui-hire strategies, where talent, rather than products alone, were the primary driver. This was evident in moves such as Google’s poaching of Windsurf employees, and Meta’s Scale AI investment. While these were not traditional acquisitions, they underscored how critical elite AI talent has become. The year also saw several senior executives jump from one Big Tech firm to another, with some of the most notable departures coming from Apple.
Against this backdrop, the following were the major acquisitions in the AI space this year.
Google’s Wiz acquisition
Google announced the acquisition of Wiz, a cloud security company, for $32 billion in an all-cash transaction in March this year. The was to become a part of Google Cloud.
Wiz had been in the news for its rapidly growing clientele. The platform provides agentless, end-to-end protection across major cloud environments, helping developers, security, and DevOps teams identify and prioritise risk, cutting through alert noise. The startup was led by Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Yinon Costica, and Roy Reznik.
The two companies, according to Google, aim to deliver a more automated, end-to-end security platform that can reduce the cost and complexity of managing security, improve threat detection and response, and help organisations address new AI-driven risks.
Importantly, Wiz continues to operate as a multi-cloud security platform, with its products remaining available across Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, and other major cloud providers.
Meta’s acquisition of Manus
Meta acquired Manus, a Singapore-based startup, for over $2 billion in December. Manus has been building general-purpose AI agents that claim to independently perform complex real-world tasks, without interference or constant human guidance.
Following the acquisition, the company clarified that it will continue operating its subscription service, and its employees will join Meta.
This marked another aggressive acquisition by Meta, following its acqui-hire of Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang in June. The Facebook parent picked up 49% stake in the startup for $14.3 billion, and appointed Wang as Meta’s chief AI officer. Just two weeks before Manus’ acquisition, the WhatsApp parent acquired Limitless, an AI startup for wearables.
This aligns with the broader strategy of big tech firms to build monetisable AI products.
Manus debuted its general AI agent in an invitation-only preview in March this year. The company says its agent is capable of performing tasks such as market research, coding, and data analysis, and claims its performance is superior to OpenAI’s DeepResearch.
The startup reportedly registered an annualised average revenue of over $100 million within eight months of launch of its agent.
OpenAI acquired io
While Big Tech firms like Meta and Google are expected to be able to afford large-ticket acquisitions, AI startups were not far behind.
OpenAI acquired io, a device startup led by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, in May. The all-equity deal valued io at a whopping $6.5 billion. Per the terms of the transaction, Ive and his design firm LoveFrom were to lead creative and design work at OpenAI. The announcement came amid rumours that OpenAI would launch a lineup of AI-powered consumer hardware products. Reports suggest that the company may launch these in 2026.
Ive’s 55-member team was reported to have joined OpenAI, with Lovefrom continuing to operate independently.
OpenAI’s Statsig acquisition
OpenAI also acquired product testing startup Statsig for $1.1 billion, one of its largest acquisitions to date. The $500 billion AI startup appointed Statsig’s founder and CEO, Vijaye Raji, as its CTO of applications, following the all-stock deal in September.
The move is aimed at strengthening the ChatGPT parent’s applications business, now led by former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo, with Raji overseeing product engineering for ChatGPT, Codex, and future applications. OpenAI also plans to utilise Statsig’s experimentation platform to accelerate its internal product development.
The company has said that Statsig employees will join OpenAI. The company continues to operate independently from its Seattle office.
Elon Musk’s xAI acquires Hotshot
In March this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired Hotshot for his startup xAI. San Francisco–based Hotshot offers AI-powered video generation tools, much like OpenAI’s Sora.
Hotshot co-founder and CEO Aakash Sastry has stated that their three video foundation models, developed in the last two years will now be scaled using xAI’s large compute infrastructure, Colossus. Founded by Sastry and John Mullan, Hotshot had pivoted from AI photo tools to text-to-video models, and was backed by investors including Lachy Groom, Alexis Ohanian, and SV Angel.
Perplexity acquired Visual Electric
Perplexity, led by Indian-origin Aravind Srinivas, acquired the AI design startup Visual Electric in October this year.
The deal terms for the acquisition were not disclosed. Founded in 2022 by former Facebook, Apple, Dropbox, and Microsoft employees, Visual Electric built an AI-powered design tool for image and video creation on an infinite canvas, and had raised $2.5 million from Sequoia, BoxGroup, and the Designer Fund.
Visual Electric said it will shut down its standalone product within 90 days, allowing users to export their data and receive pro-rated refunds. The Sequoia-backed startup’s team has reportedly joined a newly-formed agents experience group at Perplexity.