In a strategic move to bolster their positions in the rapidly growing field of AI voice technology and counter rivals like Apple and Google, Microsoft and Amazon have decided to join forces. This collaboration was officially announced on Wednesday, with Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos enthusiastically tweeting, “Alexa just made a new friend.â€
According to CNBC, under this partnership, the voice assistants from both companies will now be able to activate one another. Amazon Alexa users will gain access to certain exclusive features of Microsoft's Cortana, including the ability to check work schedules and read professional emails. Conversely, Cortana users will be able to shop on Amazon.com using Alexa or manage smart home devices.
At the press conference held on the same day, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressed his excitement about this collaboration, stating, “Our mission is to ensure that our users can access Cortana anytime, anywhere, on any device. Integrating Cortana’s knowledge, Office 365 connectivity, and reminder functionalities into Alexa represents a significant leap towards achieving this vision.â€
Bezos echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that the future holds room for multiple successful smart assistants, each with distinct datasets and areas of expertise. By merging their capabilities, these assistants can enhance each other’s strengths, providing users with a more comprehensive and beneficial experience. He added that Echo users stand to benefit greatly from this, gaining seamless access to Cortana’s features.
The image below highlights the collaboration between Microsoft Cortana and Amazon Alexa, showcasing how these two voice assistants are now working together.
Microsoft Cortana was first introduced in May 2015 as part of the app suite. Its aim is to allow users to engage with it intelligently, moving beyond simple Q&A interactions. By analyzing unstructured data such as text files, emails, photos, and videos, Cortana aims to grasp the semantics and context of user requests.
Amazon’s Alexa, launched in November 2014 alongside the smart speaker Echo, quickly became a household name. In 2015, Amazon opened up Alexa to third-party developers, rapidly expanding its functionality. Earlier this year, Amazon announced that Alexa had over 10,000 skills.
Currently, Microsoft Cortana boasts 145 million monthly active users, while Amazon’s Echo speakers dominate the smart speaker market. With this collaboration, both voice assistants have grown stronger, creating a formidable challenge for Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant.
However, there are still some reservations in this alliance. As reported by Business Insider, if you invoke Cortana on an Echo Dot but wish to use your Amazon Prime account to stream music, you’ll need to revert to Alexa. Amazon is cautious about sharing its shopping habits with Microsoft, just as Microsoft is protective of its own user data that it doesn’t wish to share directly with Amazon.
Below is an image showcasing Amazon’s Alexa-equipped smart speaker, Echo.
This collaboration marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of AI voice technology, setting the stage for future innovations and intensifying competition among tech giants.
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