Amazon buys wearable startup Bee
The start-up Bee is building a permanently listening AI wearable for the wrist. Now Amazon wants to buy the company.
The company Bee is building a wearable with a personal AI assistant.
(Image: Bee)
Amazon wants to buy the AI company Bee. The tech giant confirmed this to US media. The CEO of Bee had previously reported the planned takeover on LinkedIn. Both parties are keeping quiet about the financial details of the deal.
Bee is a US start-up that is developing an AI wearable for the wrist. The gadget looks like a normal fitness wristband, but is much more attentive: it has built-in microphones that can permanently listen in. The recorded conversations are fed into a personal AI assistant, which can offer summaries of days or transcriptions of conversations via the Bee app.
The gadget, which costs 50 dollars, is currently only available in the USA, but is said to support 40 different languages. Anyone who is afraid of a snitch on their wrist can switch off the microphones at any time –, but will then also lose the main function of the wristband.
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It is unclear whether Amazon wants to drive forward the development of the AI wristband or is mainly buying Bee for the know-how of its employees. All of the start-up's employees will be given the opportunity to work at Amazon, a spokesperson told The Verge.
Alexa+ is making slow progress
The US tech giant is making slow progress with its attempts to implement a new AI generation of Alexa. The new version, called Alexa+, has been postponed several times and problems during development have been well documented in numerous media reports.
In Germany, Alexa+, which is planned as a paid add-on to the existing Alexa assistant, is not yet available to order. In the USA, the service is currently still in the early access phase. It remains to be seen whether the new, smart Alexa will no longer only be found in speakers, but also in wristbands.
(dahe)
