Amazon has announced its intent to acquire Bee, a San Francisco-based startup developing an AI-powered wristband that transcribes conversations and generates real-time summaries, to-do lists, and more. The move signals Amazon’s renewed interest in AI-driven consumer hardware and the ambient computing space.
Founded in 2022, Bee has garnered attention for its $50 minimalist bracelet that captures and distills spoken interactions, offering a screenless, hands-free alternative to traditional productivity tools. The device includes built-in privacy features, such as a mute function, and is designed to learn user preferences over time.
“We imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with you,” Bee CEO and co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo wrote in a recent LinkedIn post announcing the acquisition. Zollo has not issued further public comments since the post.
While Amazon declined to disclose the financial details of the transaction, the deal has not yet closed. Upon completion, Bee will be integrated into the division led by Panos Panay, Amazon’s head of Devices and Services.
The acquisition follows Amazon’s mixed track record in the wearables market. The company previously launched the Halo fitness tracker, which was discontinued in 2023, but continues to explore voice-integrated hardware via its Echo Frames smart glasses powered by Alexa.
By acquiring Bee, Amazon positions itself in the emerging and competitive field of AI wearables, an area recently highlighted by OpenAI’s $6.5 billion acquisition of device startup io, co-founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive. These developments mark a broader industry shift toward ambient, screenless computing and more intuitive AI integration in everyday life.
Bee’s wearable stands out by offering always-on voice processing and summarization without a dependency on screens or manual input, reflecting a growing consumer appetite for seamless, AI-enhanced experiences.
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