Apple plows $390M into Finisar facial recognition, 500+ jobs

Apple is investing $390 million in Finisar, a company that makes lasers used in facial recognition technology.

It’s the latest investment from Apple’s $1 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund, created to finance the work of domestic manufacturers and create jobs in the U.S.

Apple said Wednesday that the investment will allow Finisar to boost production of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, which Apple uses for Face ID, Animoji and Portrait mode selfies with the iPhone X TrueDepth camera and the proximity-sensing capabilities of AirPods.

Finisar will open a manufacturing plant in Sherman, Texas, about an hour north of Dallas, creating more than 500 jobs. Finisar runs a plant in Allen, just outside of Dallas.
Shares of Finisar jumped 19 percent before the opening bell.

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