What is Bee, the always-listening AI wearable acquired by Amazon?

Amazon may have just found its own version of Fitbit.

Well, sort of, anyway, in the sense that it just bought a company that makes wearables for your wrist. That company is Bee, a startup that makes a $50 AI wearable. Bee co-founder and CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo announced the acquisition in a post on LinkedIn this week, and Amazon confirmed the deal in a statement to TechCrunch, which noted that the deal is still being finalized. The terms of the deal are not yet public at the time of writing.

As of Wednesday, the Bee website included a statement that read, "Bee is joining Amazon! We’re incredibly grateful to our customers and community and we’re excited to continue our journey with you."

So, what the heck is Bee?

The startup makes a $50, screen-free, always-on, AI-powered wearable microphone that you can wear on your wrist or clip to your clothing. It looks a little like a Fitbit fitness tracker, except this wearable is always listening (unless you manually mute it) and collecting data on your tasks, habits, and relationships. Using this data, Bee can create to-do lists and daily summaries for you in a mobile app.

Credit: Bee

There are some interesting implications here. One is that Amazon might be looking into wearables and portable AI assistants, which until now have largely lived in Alexa-powered devices that are rooted at home. Another perhaps more important concern is that of privacy; these devices are always listening by design, making them potential privacy nightmares.

According to Bee's policies, the company doesn't store any audio data on servers and users can delete their personal data. Amazon's plans for Bee are unknown, but Echo devices recently stopped allowing for local storage, and Ring has a controversial history with privacy.

While big companies like Amazon and OpenAI are investing in AI devices, this product category has struggled to attract actual customers. Just think of high-profile failures like the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI pin. Those devices both cost hundreds of dollars, while Bee's device is just $50, so maybe Bee can make headway where Rabbit and Humane could not. At any rate, Silicon Valley isn't done trying.

In a post on Linkedin, Zollo wrote, "Bee is joining Amazon and we couldn’t be more excited! When we started Bee, we imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with you. What began as a dream with an incredible team and community now finds a new home at Amazon."