Amazon has acquired AI wearable startup Bee, according to a LinkedIn post by Bee co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo. Amazon confirmed its acquisition of TechCrunch, but noted that the transaction has not yet ended.
The Bee, which raised $7 million last year, will make both a standalone Fitbit-like bracelet (sold for $49.99 and a $19 per month subscription) and the Apple Watch app. The product records everything you hear unless the user mists manually, with the goal of listening to the conversation to create user reminders and to-do lists.
Zollo told TechCrunch last year that the company wanted to create a “cloud phone” or a mirror for mobile phones that allows personal Bee devices to access user accounts and notifications, allowing them to get reminders or send messages about events.
“We should have access to the intelligence of our surroundings that everyone feels like a trustworthy companion, not a tool, that helps you to reflect, remember and move around the world more freely,” Bee argues on its website.
Other companies like Rabbit and Humane AI have tried to create AI-enabled wearables like this, but so far have not been very successful. But at the $50 price range, Bee’s devices are more cost-accessible for curious consumers who don’t want a big financial commitment. (The unfortunate humane AI pin was $499.)
An Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch that Bee employees have received an offer to join Amazon.
The acquisition demonstrates Amazon’s interest in developing wearable AI devices, a different tool than voice-controlled home assistant products such as the line of echo speakers. ChatGpt Maker Openai is working on its own AI hardware, while Meta integrates AI into smart glasses. It is rumored that Apple is also working on smart glasses with AI.
These products carry many security and privacy risks when you consider recording everything around you. The policies of different companies differ in how voice recordings are processed, stored and used in AI training.
The current privacy policy states that users can delete data at any time and that audio recordings will not be stored, stored or used in AI training. However, the app stores the data that AI learns about users, which is how it acts as an assistant.
Bee previously showed that she had planned to record only the voices of those who had verbally agreed to. Bee also says it is working on a feature that allows users to define boundaries based on both topics and locations so that it automatically pauses device learning. The company noted that it plans to build AI processing on devices, as it generally has less privacy risk than processing data in the cloud.
However, it is not clear whether these policies will change as Bee is integrated with Amazon. Amazon has a variety of records regarding the handling of user data from customers’ devices.
In the past, Amazon shared footage with law enforcement for people’s personal ring security cameras, both owner consent and warrants. The ring settled the claim in 2023, brought by the Federal Trade Commission, which said employees and contractors have wide, unlimited access to client videos.
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