Amazon to Acquire AI Wearable Startup Bee, Expanding Its Push Into Personalized Tech
Amazon has announced a deal to acquire Bee, a San Francisco-based startup known for developing a $50 artificial intelligence-powered bracelet designed to transcribe and summarize conversations in real time. The bracelet, which passively listens to users, can distill conversations into concise summaries, generate to-do lists, and support other productivity tasks using on-device AI.
Bee’s co-founder and CEO, Maria de Lourdes Zollo, shared the news on LinkedIn, stating:
“We imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with you.”
While Amazon has confirmed the acquisition, the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, and the transaction has not yet officially closed. A company spokesperson noted that Amazon plans to collaborate with Bee to enhance user privacy and control, including features such as manual muting and customizable transcription settings.
This acquisition marks a renewed effort by Amazon to strengthen its position in the wearables space. After discontinuing its Halo line of health-focused wristbands in 2023 due to lackluster performance, the tech giant appears to be pivoting toward AI-driven wearables with more personalized and practical use cases.
Bee’s bracelet taps into a growing trend where AI merges with hardware to create devices that act as intelligent assistants. The wearable doesn’t just passively record—it processes spoken words in real time and offers actionable outputs, making it appealing for productivity-minded users, professionals, and individuals with busy lifestyles.
The move aligns with a broader industry shift toward AI-native hardware. OpenAI recently acquired io, a startup co-founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, for $6.5 billion, to build innovative AI devices. Other players in the field—ranging from Humane to Rewind—have also entered the wearable AI space, though with varying levels of success.
Amazon’s acquisition of Bee could reinvigorate its wearables strategy, especially when combined with its Alexa ecosystem and growing AI capabilities. Analysts speculate that integrating Bee’s technology with Amazon’s devices could result in next-generation smart assistants that are not only voice-responsive but context-aware and deeply integrated into users’ daily lives.
As AI-powered hardware gains traction, Amazon’s acquisition positions it as a serious contender in the emerging market of ambient and personalized computing
