Standard AI acquires ThirdEye and teams up to bolster autonomous checkout tech

San Francisco-headquartered Standard AI, a startup providing autonomous checkout technology for the retail industry, today announced it has completed the acquisition and hiring of the London-based computer vision startup ThirdEye Labs. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2017, Standard enables retailers to set up a cashier-free checkout experience. The company has developed a solution that leverages ceiling-mounted cameras, computer vision, and proprietary AI to anonymously monitor a shopper’s activity and the products they pick up from the shelves. This way, customers can simply check into a store using the company’s app, pick up the products they need, and walk out — without standing in long queues or stopping to scan and pay.

The autonomous checkout system automatically bills the shoppers as they exit the store, giving retailers a way to reduce their labor costs and improve profit margins while providing an elevated in-store shopping experience. Standard, which goes against Zippin, Trigo, and Amazon Go cashier-free stores, says the whole thing just includes some cameras and onsite servers and can be installed overnight.

ThirdEye brings theft detection expertise

With ThirdEye’s team coming on board, the retail-tech company aims to expand the capabilities of its platform. Founded in 2016, ThirdEye has built expertise around leveraging AI and computer vision to help retailers detect instances of in-store theft and checkout fraud. The company’s machine learning algorithms focus on specific human movements — similar to those used by autonomous vehicles to identify and predict pedestrian behavior — and notify store employees to follow up wherever required. It claims to reduce theft by up to 50% and even flags cases of stockouts or flash queues, helping improve overall operations.

“Computer vision has rapidly become one of the most valuable ways for brick-and-mortar retailers to keep up with the data-driven flexibility of ecommerce,” Jordan Fisher, CEO of Standard AI, said. “Raz [Ghafoor, the CEO and cofounder] and the ThirdEye product and engineering team have been engaged in cutting-edge work, and they will be invaluable to our team as we expand the capabilities of our platform deeper into retail.”

New VP to lead autonomous checkout

In addition to the acquisition and hiring, Standard has also appointed Tesla and Lyft alum Sameer Qureshi as its VP of machine learning.

This whole explosion of talent, Fisher told VentureBeat, will ultimately help the company take its offering to more diverse retail environments. So far, Standard has only upgraded a bunch of convenience stores, including those from Circle K and Compass Group, with its autonomous checkout technology.

“We’ll continue to push the boundaries with new products, analytics, and inventory management,” he added, while noting that the company also plans to expand beyond retail — into areas such as manufacturing facilities, offices, and gyms — but not in the next three to four years.