Microsoft may acquire AI developer for $16B

Microsoft Corp. is in advanced talks to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications Inc., Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

The price being discussed could value Nuance at about $56 a share, though the terms may still change. That would give Nuance an equity value of about $16 billion.

An agreement could be announced as soon as this week. Talks are ongoing and the discussions could still fall apart.

A representative for Microsoft declined to comment. A spokesperson for Nuance, based in Burlington, Massachusetts, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nuance’s shares have climbed 3.4 percent this year, giving the company, which laid the groundwork for the technology used in Apple Inc.’s Siri voice software, an almost $13 billion market value but still trailing the 9.9 percent jump in the S&P 500 Index.