Amazon has acquired Bee, a startup that develops artificial intelligence devices, according to Bee co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo’s post on LinkedIn. Amazon confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch, but noted that the deal is not yet closed.
Bee, which raised $7 million last year, produces both a standalone Fitbit-like bracelet (which sells for $49.99, plus $19 per month of subscription) and an app for the Apple Watch. The product records everything it hears – unless the user manually mutes it – for the purpose of listening to conversations to create reminders and to-do lists for the user.
Zollo told TechCrunch last year that the company hopes to create a “cloud phone,” or a mirror of your phone, that will give Bee’s personal device access to a user’s accounts and notifications, allowing it to receive event reminders or send messages.
“We believe that everyone should have access to personalized ambient intelligence that feels less like a tool and more like a trusted companion. Someone who helps you think, remember, and move more freely through the world,” Bee states on its website.
Other companies, such as Rabbit and Humane AI, have tried to create similar AI-powered devices, but have not yet had much success. But at $50, Bee’s devices are more affordable for the curious consumer who doesn’t want to make a big financial commitment (the ill-fated Humane AI Pin cost $499).
An Amazon representative told TechCrunch that Bee employees have received offers to join Amazon.
The acquisition shows Amazon’s interest in developing wearable AI devices, which is different from voice-controlled home assistant products such as the Echo line of speakers. ChatGPT vendor OpenAI is working on its own AI hardware, and Meta is integrating its AI into its smart glasses. Apple is also rumored to be working on AI-enabled smart glasses.
These products come with a number of security and privacy risks as they record everything that happens around them; policies will vary from company to company in terms of how voice recordings are processed, stored, and used for AI training.
In its current privacy policy, Bee states that users can delete their data at any time and that audio recordings are not stored, retained, or used for AI training. However, the app does store data that the AI learns about the user, and it is thanks to this that it can function as an assistant.
Earlier, Bee reported that it plans to record the voices of only those people who have given verbal consent. Bee also says it is working on a feature that will allow users to define boundaries – both topic-based and location-based – that will automatically pause the device’s learning. The company noted that it plans to build AI processing on the device, which generally poses less of a privacy risk than processing data in the cloud.
However, it is unclear whether this policy will change after Bee’s integration into Amazon – and Amazon has a mixed reputation for processing user data from its customers’ devices.
In the past, Amazon has shared recordings from Ring users’ personal security cameras with law enforcement agencies without the owner’s consent and without a warrant. In 2023, Ring also settled claims by the Federal Trade Commission that employees and contractors had broad and unrestricted access to customer videos.
