Tech giant Amazon has acquired the Swedish AI company Bee, which develops wearable devices that continuously record users’ conversations. The deal signals Amazon’s ambitions to expand within AI-driven hardware beyond its voice-controlled home assistants.

The acquisition was confirmed by Bee founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo in a LinkedIn post, while Amazon told tech site TechCrunch that the deal has not yet been completed. Bee employees have been offered positions within Amazon.

AI wristband that listens constantly

Bee, which raised €6.4 million in venture capital last year, manufactures both a standalone wristband similar to Fitbit and an Apple Watch app. The product costs €46 (approximately $50) plus a monthly subscription of €17 ($18).

The device records everything it hears – unless the user manually turns it off – with the goal of listening to conversations to create reminders and to-do lists. According to the company’s website, they want “everyone to have access to a personal, ambient intelligence that feels less like a tool and more like a trusted companion.”

Bee has previously expressed plans to create a “cloud phone” that mirrors the user’s phone and gives the device access to accounts and notifications, which would enable reminders about events or sending messages.

Competitors struggle in the market

Other companies like Rabbit and Humane AI have tried to create similar AI-driven wearable devices but so far without major success. However, Bee’s device is significantly more affordable than competitors’ – the Humane AI Pin cost €458 – making it more accessible to curious consumers who don’t want to make a large financial investment.

The acquisition marks Amazon’s interest in wearable AI devices, a different direction from the company’s voice-controlled home assistants like Echo speakers. Meanwhile, ChatGPT creator OpenAI is working on its own AI hardware, while Meta is integrating its AI into smart glasses and Apple is rumored to be working on the same thing.

Privacy concerns remain

Products that continuously record the environment carry significant security and privacy risks. Different companies have varying policies for how voice recordings are processed, stored, and used for AI training.

In its current privacy policy, Bee says users can delete their data at any time and that audio recordings are not saved, stored, or used for AI training. However, the app does store data that the AI learns about the user, which is necessary for the assistant function.

Bee has previously indicated plans to only record voices from people who have verbally given consent. The company is also working on a feature that lets users define boundaries – both based on topic and location – that automatically pause the device’s learning. They also plan to build AI processing directly into the device, which generally involves fewer privacy risks than cloud-based data processing.

However, it’s unclear whether these policies will change when Bee is integrated into Amazon. Amazon has previously had mixed results when it comes to handling user data from customers’ devices.

The company has shared video clips with law enforcement from people’s Ring security cameras without the owner’s consent or court order. Ring also reached a settlement in 2023 with the Federal Trade Commission after allegations that employees and contractors had broad and unrestricted access to customers’ video recordings.