Amazon logo is located on August 20, 2024 in a brick building with exterior clad in San Francisco.
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Amazon The plan to acquire wearable startup Bee AI has been confirmed in the latest example of a tech giant doubles generative artificial intelligence.
San Francisco-based Bee creates a $49.99 wristband that looks similar to a Fitbit smartwatch. The device is equipped with AI and microphones that allow you to listen and analyze conversations, providing summary of everyday tasks, to-do lists and reminders.
Bee CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo announced in a LinkedIn post Tuesday that the company will be joining Amazon.
“When we first started bees, we imagined a world where AI was truly personal and where your life was understood and enhanced by the technology you learn with you,” writes Zollo. “What started out as an incredible team and community dream is now finding a new home on Amazon.”
Amazon spokesman Alexandra Miller confirmed plans to acquire the company's Bee. The company declined to comment on the terms of the transaction.
Amazon has introduced a surge in AI products, including its own set of NOVA models, train chips, shopping chatbots, and third-party models marketplaces called Bedrock.
The company also overhauled ALEXA's voice assistant, which was released over a decade ago. AIA features are about to remove success from rivals such as Openai's ChatGpt, Anthropic's Claude, and Google's Gemini.
Ring, a smart home security company owned by Amazon, is also considering introducing generator AI into some of its products.
Amazon previously experimented in the wearable space through a health and fitness-focused product called Halo. We will bring Hello to sunset in 2023 as part of a broader cost-saving review.
Other tech companies have launched AI-infused consumer hardware.
The Rabbit R1 costs $199 and comes with a small square gadget that answers questions using the Openai model, as well as an AI pin developed by Humane, which was later sold to HP.
MetaRay-Ban Smart Glasses have been gaining popularity since the first version was released in 2021.
Openai bought Jony Ive's AI device Startup IO for around $6.4 billion in May. The company plans to develop a device that does not have a screen.
