Amazon wants to put your next AI assistant on your wrist. The tech giant has announced plans to acquire Bee, a San Francisco startup that makes a $49.99 wearable device designed to help users stay organized, productive and connected—all without pulling out a smartphone.
Meet Bee: the $49.99 smart wearable that thinks ahead and never forgets
The wristband looks like a Fitbit but acts more like a personal assistant, using AI and always-on microphones to analyze conversations and generate smart reminders, summaries and to-do lists. It’s Amazon’s latest step in its mission to make artificial intelligence more accessible in everyday life.
In a LinkedIn post Tuesday, Bee CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo shared the news that the company is joining forces with Amazon. “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,” Zollo wrote. “What began as a dream with an incredible team and community now finds a new home at Amazon.”
Bee’s wearable transcribes nearly every conversation you have throughout the day—even the thoughts you say aloud to yourself. It captures everything from casual chats to deeply personal moments, then uses artificial intelligence to turn that stream of speech into a searchable timeline. It can recall what time you promised to meet a friend or notice patterns in your habits, such as how often you’ve stepped outside lately. If it’s on your wrist, it’s paying attention.
To save battery and keep your private chats safer, the wristband doesn’t blast raw audio to the cloud. Instead, it converts your spoken words into text and then scans for important details and connections to your other routines and conversations.
From simple speakers to smart doorbells: Amazon’s journey into personal devices
Long before “AI” became the buzzword it is today, Amazon was already reshaping how people interact with technology in their daily lives. Alexa brought voice control into the mainstream, turning a simple speaker into a household assistant. Then came Ring, which transformed front doors into smart, connected entry points, giving users a sense of security and control, all from their phones.
These weren’t just gadgets. They were revolutionary lifestyle tools, designed to save time, reduce friction and make modern living feel just a bit more manageable. And it worked. Amazon built an ecosystem around the idea that technology should serve you without demanding too much in return.
Amazon put growth ahead of profits early on, betting that customers would buy more from its ecosystem to offset hardware losses. The company developed Alexa with no clear profit timeline, viewing it instead as a long-term investment in voice-driven computing. This strategy, commonly referred to as “downstream impact,” ultimately fell short, especially as most Echo users didn’t shop using voice commands as expected. Still, Amazon’s deep investment in Alexa helped establish it as a pioneer in AI, demonstrating not just a willingness to adopt new technology but a desire to shape how it evolves.
Why tech giants are now betting on wearable AI
Amazon’s integration of Bee is yet another example of its long-game strategy. While the wearable AI space is still niche, it’s starting to draw serious interest from major players. Companies such as Meta and OpenAI have also begun testing the waters with AI-powered devices, signaling a new shift toward always-on, contextual AI.
Meta launched its first generation of smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban back in 2021, with the latest version, released in 2023, now featuring built-in Meta AI, allowing users to take photos, receive contextual information, and interact with the assistant using voice commands.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is collaborating with hardware partners, including former Apple designer Jony Ive, to explore a new class of AI-first devices. For Amazon, entering this market is about more than novelty; it’s a way to ensure Alexa’s evolution continues in a world moving beyond smart speakers and still devices.
Because they’re on your body, wearable AIs can access real-world context more easily: your location, movement, time of day and even what you’re saying out loud. This means they can provide more relevant, timely and intelligent help, sometimes even before you ask. As everyday users gravitate toward more seamless, ambient AI experiences, wearable tech is emerging as one of the most promising growth areas.
Amazon used to insist: Alexa only listens after you say the wake word. Whether or not you believed it, the company spent years reinforcing that message. Now, Amazon’s going in a new direction—backing a wearable that’s always listening. No wake word. No trigger phrase. This time, being “always on” isn’t the concern… it’s the selling point.
Photo courtesy of Bee
