ADT just bought the company that invented Wi-Fi motion sensing

ADT, the 150-year-old company best known for home security, has acquired Origin Wireless in a $170 million deal to expand the capabilities of its security and smart home offerings. Origin Wireless developed algorithms that analyze how wireless RF signals bounce around a space to detect the presence and movements of people and objects without the need for additional sensors.

ADT plans to integrate Original Wireless’ technology into its smart home and security systems to add more context when security alarms are triggered, and potentially reduce false alarms. By leveraging existing technologies like Wi-Fi, future ADT systems may also require fewer sensors around a home, streamlining installation.

“This acquisition represents a major step forward in our vision to deliver a safer, smarter home that understands context, recognizes risk, and provides peace of mind, all while protecting customer privacy,” says Omar Khan, ADT’s executive vice president and chief business officer. “By integrating AI sensing into the home, we plan to add a new intelligence layer, elevating traditional security and smart home capabilities by allowing ADT to verify human presence, classify and analyze motion, and add context to alarm events and other conditions within the home.”

ADT said it will continue to license Origin Wireless’ technology to Verisure, a security system provider in Europe and South America. The Verge reached out to ADT to ask whether the company plans to continue licensing the technology to other new companies, and will update this story with its response.