If you thought AI wearables had been buried in 2024, we’ve got some bad news. Amazon’s next step in the AI game isn’t focusing on something it generated in-house, but rather an acquisition of a startup by the name of Bee. Or at least, that’s the plan. Amazon noted that the deal was yet to close, though an apparently premature LinkedIn post from the startup’s founder, Maria de Lourdes Zollo, suggests otherwise.
“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. What began as a dream with an incredible team and community now finds a new home at Amazon,” she said.
Speak up, there’s a Bee in your bonnet
A little under a year ago, right as dedicated AI wearables were getting off the ground (before climbing under again), Bee secured itself $7 million in funding to develop exactly that — an AI wearable. Bee’s device touted its ability to listen to its owner all the time as an actual feature, one that would help the device learn more about you to better provide accurate recollections and notes. It also built a companion Apple Watch app.
On the surface, it sounds like a good idea. Bee’s device, which mimics a Fitbit and can be worn on your wrist (or clipped onto your clothes) and supposedly lasts up to 7 days on a single charge, helps you remember earlier conversations or offers up personalised reminders and to-do lists for anything. It even avoids the foibles of those that came and failed before it with a $50 price tag, whereas the infamous Rabbit R1 cost $200.
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Still, if there’s one thing worse than a wearable that’s always listening to you, it’s a wearable that’s always listening to you and owned by Amazon. Bee does at least include a dedicated mute button on the device, but it’d prefer you not to use it. It relies on hearing everything around its owner to function as intended. How it’ll all shake out once the company is absorbed by Amazon remains to be seen.
Amazon hasn’t had the best run when it comes to AI, most recently debuting its subscription-based Alexa+ service in the US to muted applause. The company confirmed that the acquisition was happening, but that the deal was yet to close. A spokesperson for the e-retailer noted that Bee employees had received an offer to join Amazon. It’s unclear how much Amazon is spending to acquire the AI startup.
