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Amazon Acquires Bee to Extend Alexa with Always-On Voice Recording

Amazon Acquires Bee to Extend Alexa with Always-On Voice Recording

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The AI Colony
July 23, 2025

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Amazon Acquires Bee to Extend Alexa with Always-On Voice Recording

Amazon confirmed on July 22 that it is buying Bee, the startup behind a $49.99 AI bracelet and companion Apple Watch app that records surrounding audio to turn everyday conversations into reminders and to-do lists. Bee raised $7 million in 2024 and pitched its wearable as a low-cost on-ramp to a “personal, ambient intelligence” that feels more like a companion than a tool.

The deal price was not disclosed, but every member of Bee’s 15-person team has received an offer to join Amazon . For Amazon, the purchase signals a move beyond Echo smart speakers toward always-on, body-worn assistants that can follow users beyond the living room. It also positions the company against a new wave of AI hardware efforts from Meta, OpenAI, and rumors of Apple smart glasses.

Bee’s promise of continuous capture comes with heavy privacy baggage. Its current policy lets users delete data at any time and claims that raw audio is neither stored nor used for model training . Whether those guardrails survive inside Amazon remains to be seen, especially given the company’s mixed record with Ring camera footage and other user data. If Amazon can blend Bee’s low-cost form factor with its Alexa ecosystem, it could unlock a fresh category of voice-first wearables that finally make proactive, context-aware AI feel useful in daily life. Expect regulators and privacy advocates to watch closely as that vision comes together.