Amazon is in the process of buying a wearable startup that places an AI assistant on your wrist in order to analyse conversations.
San Francisco-based Bee said the deal would bring its “truly personal, agentic AI to even more customers”, offering users personalised summaries of their days, as well as reminders and suggestions.
The startup launched the Fitbit-like device last year, costing customers $49.99 for the bracelet and $19 for a monthly subscription.
Bee CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo confirmed Amazon’s plan to acquire the startup on Tuesday, though did not reveal how much the deal was worth.
“When we started Bee, we imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with you,” she wrote in a post to LinkedIn.
“What began as a dream with an incredible team and community now finds a new home at Amazon… I couldn’t think of better partners to help us bring truly personal, agentic AI to even more customers.”
The Independent has reached out to Amazon for further details of the deal.
The wearable allows users to outsource their memory to artificial intelligence, however early reviews of the product suggest it often confuses real-life conversations with online videos and TV shows.
There have also been concerns about data privacy, given that its inbuilt microphones can pick up personal conversations.
Bee claims that it does not store audio recordings, instead processing them in real-time and deleting them immediately afterwards.
“Our goal is to make Bee smarter without ever requiring access to your raw personal data,” the company’s website states, adding that none of the data is sold or used for AI training.
It is not yet clear whether Amazon intends to maintain these privacy policies after the acquisition, however the tech giant has previously shared footage from people’s Ring security cameras with law enforcement without user consent.
