When you’ve got ever used an AI transcription service for conferences, calls, lectures, or extra, you know the way good the know-how is at capturing each element of a dialog and changing it into textual content. Now, think about a world the place you possibly can entry an AI-generated transcription of each real-world interplay you have got. Enter the Bee AI wearable.
On Wednesday, Bee CEO Maria de Lourdes introduced via LinkedIn that Bee is becoming a member of Amazon. The idea behind Bee is easy: a $49 wristband outfitted with mics and AI that’s worn always to eavesdrop on your on a regular basis interactions, transcribe them, and supply further insights like conversational search, motion suggestions, and extra.
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The main points of the deal weren’t disclosed. Nevertheless, Amazon’s curiosity in making the acquisition, paired with the discharge and recognition of different AI {hardware} merchandise such because the Meta Oakley AI smartglasses, makes one factor clear — AI-first {hardware} is about to have an enormous second.
The Bee Wearable
The Bee AI-wearable is supposed to be an AI companion that’s passively with you always through the day. Whereas at first, the product might sound invasive and superfluous, at CES 2025, I wore and demoed the wristband, and the real-world purposes of the product grew to become evident.
Utilizing audio, the wristband captures conversations all day until manually paused with the button on it. It then will get to know you and offers AI summaries of your conversations, transcripts — which you’ll parse utilizing a chatbot interface — and actionable insights. The battery is meant to final seven days, enabling customers to actually use it as a companion with out having to fret about recharging at totally different instances through the day.
The use instances are limitless. An apparent instance: being in a gathering and desirous to reference the notes later. Much less so: stuff you would not usually be capable of refer again to, reminiscent of revisiting a earlier dialog you had with a roommate through which they talked about what they needed you to get from the shop, what title the particular person you simply met was, and even when your pal mentioned their birthday was. You possibly can even get suggestions on the way you dealt with a state of affairs, asking one thing like “How might I’ve reacted higher in that state of affairs?”
Naturally, folks might have issues about having a wearable hearken to them at each second through the day. Once I spoke to co-founder Ethan Sutin at CES, he reassured me that no people can see the conversations, and the info won’t be offered or used for coaching.
There are not any particulars on what Amazon plans to do with the band, and it is rather potential the ultimate product will look quite a bit totally different and extra according to the suite of present Amazon AI merchandise, together with an integration into the Alexa ecosystem. Amazon is deeply concerned within the AI house with its Nova basis fashions, which could possibly be built-in into the product to make it higher.
A rising market
As generative AI turns into extra ubiquitous, the know-how has turn into more and more embedded into merchandise. Almost each new cellphone, headphone, smartwatch, and wearable now has a generative AI characteristic or expertise geared toward optimizing customers’ interactions with their units. Nevertheless, to deliver AI help to the following stage, you want a tool that captures as a lot data as potential in actual time, giving solution to a brand new form of product.
One of these product has been tried earlier than, such because the Rabbit R1 or the Humane AI pin. Nevertheless, one of many largest issues with these launches — past efficiency — is that they required folks to hold an additional machine they usually would not wish to. In consequence, we’re seeing corporations attempting their hand at new type components that may provide customers straightforward AI entry and experiences with subtly.
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OpenAI has a {hardware} AI product within the works, seen by its acquisition of the Jony Ive startup. At Google I/O 2025, Google gave extra particulars about its Android XR glasses, which pack Gemini’s help, in-lens shows, audio system, cameras, and mics into the type of conventional eyeglasses. Meta simply partnered with luxury eyewear brand Oakley to launch smartglasses embedded with Meta AI with even longer battery life, making it simpler for customers to at all times entry an assistant.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET’s dad or mum firm, filed an April 2025 lawsuit in opposition to OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in coaching and working its AI programs.)
As corporations compete to launch a wearable that makes AI essentially the most accessible and interesting for customers so as to add to their machine rotation, this market is sure to turn into extra saturated within the close to future.
You possibly can sustain with my newest tales and tech adventures on social media. Observe me on Twitter/X at @sabrinaa_ortiz and on Instagram at @sabrinaa.ortiz.
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