Google Acquires A Startup That Specializes In Android Graphics Drivers

Google is adding another company to its growing tech portfolio. The latest company to join the search giant’s growing roster is GraphicsFuzz, a company specializes in mobile benchmarking tools. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public.

As mentioned earlier by TechCrunch, the tech giant has already confirmed the latest deal but declined to provide any further information about the acquisition. The tech giant also declined to provide any information about the real price of the deal. The news comes on the same day the tech giant announced the release of Android 9 Pie mobile operating system. The deal is expected to boost Google's Android technology.

Google campus      Image Credit: Austin McKinley/Wikimedia Creative Commons

Founded in 2017, GraphicsFuzz is a European-based startup that builds a framework for testing the security and reliability of GPU drivers. Its technology makes graphics processors more secure and reliable. The founders started their work at the Imperial College London’s Department of Computing. They managed to receive backing s and support from the TETRACOM EU project and the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council.

As part of the deal, the GraphicsFuzz founders, which consists of  Alastair Donaldson, Hugues Evrard and Paul Thomson, will join the Google’s Android graphics team in Mountain View, California. The GraphicsFuzz team will help Google’s Android team in bringing the innovative driver-testing technology within the Android ecosystem, according to a recent startup’s blog post.

The company has developed a highly automatic method of testing graphics drivers that can be used to spot vulnerabilities in the GPU drivers. This technology is now being used to spot vulnerabilities in top smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S9. Recently, GraphicsFuzz uncovered an exploit in Qualcomm’s Adreno 630 graphics driver. That vulnerability could allow hackers to trigger a reboot with the smartphone’s internet browser.

GraphicsFuzz’s backers and investors include the ICURe Program, Innovate UK,  the Imperial Venture Mentoring Service,  and the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, according to startup profiler Crunchbase.

Google is no longer new when it comes to acquiring Android-related companies. The tech giant also snatched DrawElements, a Finland-based provider of graphics testing tool for Android-powered devices. In addition to the Finland startup and GraphicsFuzz, Google also acquired Android emulator developer LeapDroid and Mobile tool maker LaunchKit.