Tech Titans on a Shopping Spree: How Big Tech’s Billion-Dollar Buys Reshaped the Digital World

From AI research centers to social media giants, Big Tech's acquisition history is a blueprint to global domination. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta have spent together hundreds of billions of dollars buying companies that now dictate how we live, work, and socialize. Below is a list of their most groundbreaking acquisitions and what they portend for the future.

Google (Alphabet): Constructing the Digital Brain

YouTube (2006): Bought for $1.65 billion, now biggest video website in the world

Android (2005): Purchased for $50 million, powers over 70% of global smartphones

DeepMind (2014): AI behemoth acquired for $400 million

Motorola Mobility (2012): Bought for $12.5 billion to finance hardware strategy

Amazon: From Retail to Real-Time Streaming

Twitch (2014): Livestream gaming platform bought for $970 million

Ring (2018): Home security firm purchased for $1 billion

Annapurna Labs (2015): Chip design firm acquired for $350 million

Apple: Quietly Dominating AI and Audio

Beats Electronics (2014): Acquired for $3 billion to form music and hardware ecosystem

Intel's Modem Business (2019): Acquired for $1 billion to reduce chip dependence

Xnor.ai (2020: AI image recognition company sold for $200 million)

DarwinAI (2025): Next step toward the evolution of on-device AI capabilities

Meta (Facebook): Social Dominance and AI Aspirations

Instagram (2012): Purchased for $1 billion, now a cultural giant

WhatsApp (2014): Acquired for $19 billion, top global messaging

ScaleAI (2025): Strategic investment in data labeling and AI training to enhance performance

Microsoft: The Cloud and Gaming Giant

LinkedIn (2016): Bought for $26.2 billion, now a professional networking staple

GitHub (2018): Bought for $7.5 billion to support developer ecosystems

Nuance Communications (2022): Acquired for $19 billion deal, expanding healthcare AI

Activision Blizzard (2023): Largest gaming industry deal at $68.7 billion Emerging Trend These deals are a move away from product growth to taking over the ecosystem—where having control over the platform, data, and user experience is the holy grail.

Sources: Times of India, MSN News, Quartz, Statista