Amazon Acquires Bee, the AI Wearable that Records Everything You Say

As per a LinkedIn post by Bee co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo, Amazon has acquired the AI wearable startup Bee. While Amazon has confirmed the acquisition news, it has also stated that the deal is not yet closed. 

According to the sources, Bee raised $7 million last year to make a Fitbit-like bracelet (that sells for $49.99 with a $19/month subscription) and an app for Apple Watch. The product was designed to hear and record everything as long as the user is not manually muting it. The company claims that the continuous listening feature was implemented so that the device can create and execute reminders about to-do tasks for users. 

Zollo also shared last year that the company’s vision is to build an innovative “cloud phone” that bestows that can connect the users’ accounts to the Bee device so that reminders about tasks and events can be sent. 

“We believe everyone should have access to a personal, ambient intelligence that feels less like a tool and more like a trusted companion. One that helps you reflect, remember, and move through the world more freely,” Bee shares on its website. 

Bee has undoubtedly manufactured a great and cost-efficient device for price-conscious customers who are unable or unwilling to invest hefty amounts in smart devices. While companies like Humane AI and Rabbit have also tried to make similar devices, they have not achieved the manufacturing success of Bee’s current standards. 

The acquisition of Bee directly signals Amazon’s interest in building wearable AI devices that will be entirely different from its existing voice-controlled home assistant devices like Echo speakers. Similarly, OpenAI is also working on its own AI hardware while Meta is already integrating AI into its smart glasses. Apple is also reportedly working on its AI-powered glasses. 

While every technological giant seems to be in a race to manufacture AI hardware, it can never be denied that such devices come along with privacy and security risks. The products are designed to listen, watch, and record everything they get from the surroundings to perform the particular tasks. At the same time, every company has its own policies regarding the use of this collected information about the users. 

Taking this concern into consideration, Bee has clarified that users can access and delete their data at any point in time. Additionally, users are in complete control to ensure that their audio recordings are not saved, stored, or utilized for AI training. The company has also admitted that devices surely store the data, but only to function properly as a smart assistant. 

Bee also indicated that it originally planned to record the voices of only those users who had consented to the same. Furthermore, the company plans to impart new control features that will allow users to set boundaries on the basis of topic and location so that the device can automatically pause the recording, listening, or learning. Also, the company plans to build on-device AI processing that decreases the privacy risks as compared to cloud-based data processing. 

With the new acquisition of Bee by Amazon, it is clear whether the policies will change or remain unaffected, as Amazon has a mixed record of managing the data of its customers’ devices. 

Amazon, in the past, shared footage with law enforcement from a personal Ring security Camera of people without their consent or a warrant. Ring has also settled many claims in 2023 filed by the Federal Trade Commission that employees, as well as contractors of the company, had unrestricted access to videos and personal data of customers.