canon
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Canon U.S.A. Sells You a Camera. It Also Prints Your Office, Scans Your Chest, and Etches the Chips in Your Phone.
Everyone knows the red logo from the camera strap. Almost nobody knows Canon also builds hospital scanners, factory-floor optics, and chip-making machines - and files more U.S. patents than almost anyone. Here is the whole company behind the shutter.
Darkgrade
Darkgrade (YC F24) is building a protocol that lets large language models talk directly to image sensors. Its first shipping product is an open-source TypeScript SDK that connects to and controls Canon EOS, Sony Alpha, and Nikon Z cameras in about two lines of code, using the standardized Picture Transfer Protocol. Founded in 2024 by Kevin Schaich, a former Palantir engineer, the one-person company works from Denver and New York and is aiming to become the plumbing that helps cameras understand the world.