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highplainsdem

(57,553 posts)
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 05:48 PM Jul 22

Amazon acquires Bee, the AI wearable that records everything you say

Source: TechCrunch

Amazon has acquired the AI wearables startup Bee, according to a LinkedIn post by Bee co-founder Maria de Loudres Zollo. Amazon confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch, but noted that the deal has not yet closed.

Bee, which raised $7 million last year, makes both a standalone Fitbit-like bracelet (which retails for $49.99, plus a $19-per-month subscription) and an Apple Watch app. The product records everything it hears — unless the user manually mutes it — with the goal of listening to conversations to create reminders and to-do lists for the user.

Zollo told TechCrunch last year that the company hopes to create a “cloud phone,” or a mirror of your phone that gives the personal Bee device access to the user’s accounts and notifications, making it possible to get reminders about events or send messages.

“We believe everyone should have access to a personal, ambient intelligence that feels less like a tool and more like a trusted companion. One that helps you reflect, remember, and move through the world more freely,” Bee claims on its website.

-snip-



Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/22/amazon-acquires-bee-the-ai-wearable-that-records-everything-you-say/



Much more at the link, including that there are "a number of security and privacy risks" (ya think?) and that "Amazon has a mixed record on the handling of user data" (no kidding).
34 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Amazon acquires Bee, the AI wearable that records everything you say (Original Post) highplainsdem Jul 22 OP
What could go wrong? SheltieLover Jul 22 #1
Next we'll be using wearable brains. Joinfortmill Jul 22 #2
well, most of the breathing public don't use theirs anyway... Javaman Jul 22 #3
I think not... more like HarryM Wednesday #24
Great dweller Jul 22 #4
Welcome to zombie land....at this rate the dystopian BS is going we will not recognize the US soon. walkingman Jul 22 #5
Ewwwww Hekate Jul 22 #6
Should be illegal to even create such a product in the first place. End-stage capitalism has no bottom. Karasu Jul 22 #7
What possible or even theoretical usefulness does bullshit technology like this have? hatrack Jul 22 #8
What a truly horrible idea. Igel Jul 22 #9
New! record everyone you know without their knowledge or consent. endorsed by ICE nt msongs Jul 22 #10
Divorce lawyers rejoice. eppur_se_muova Jul 22 #11
Not so new. For years there have been usb thumb drives that do this. Captain Zero Wednesday #30
Oh, most of what I say should never, ever Bettie Jul 22 #12
The same people who shoot selfies wherever they go... Harker Jul 22 #13
I sometimes send pictures of food I've made Bettie Jul 22 #14
There's a place for it, but not everyone needs to see my spaghetti. Harker Jul 22 #15
Might be useful at protests Orrex Jul 22 #16
i can't imagine anything moonbeam23 Jul 22 #17
I could see Amazon requiring employees to wear them. FuzzyDicePHL Jul 22 #19
What type of idiot would buy that? tinrobot Jul 22 #18
Hard of Hearing here, and I just bought something similar Granny Blue Jul 22 #20
Curious about your device. intrepidity Wednesday #29
Oh I could sure use that! MuseRider Wednesday #33
With technology like this, and Musk's Neurolink, we're on... LudwigPastorius Wednesday #21
Certain words. phrases, and locations flagged for upload for violation review. NBachers Wednesday #22
Oesday ithay understandhay HarryM Wednesday #23
Might need a cone of silence into which they may be excluded Captain Zero Wednesday #32
Didn't they already make this movie? hamsterjill Wednesday #25
"feels less like a tool and more like a trusted companion" nuxvomica Wednesday #26
Well stated and to the point. . . . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Wednesday #28
Also would record other side of conversations. If someone is wearing one, demand they take it off and turn it off. . .nt Bernardo de La Paz Wednesday #27
Anyone who buys one of these and then complains about DOGE's invasion of our privacy should in2herbs Wednesday #31
Mute? Maninacan Wednesday #34

HarryM

(407 posts)
24. I think not... more like
Wed Jul 23, 2025, 06:48 AM
Wednesday

wearable lobotomies. It would be a great assistance to the ruling class. They could more easily control the masses.

walkingman

(9,614 posts)
5. Welcome to zombie land....at this rate the dystopian BS is going we will not recognize the US soon.
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 06:24 PM
Jul 22

Poor kids are gonna be living is a world that makes the "Handmaid's Tale" look like utopia.

We simply do not have the mental capacity to deal with technology. It is becoming obvious.

Karasu

(1,697 posts)
7. Should be illegal to even create such a product in the first place. End-stage capitalism has no bottom.
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 06:44 PM
Jul 22

hatrack

(63,118 posts)
8. What possible or even theoretical usefulness does bullshit technology like this have?
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 06:50 PM
Jul 22

$7 million? Shit, people are even dumber than I thought, and I didn't rate them too highly already.

Igel

(37,015 posts)
9. What a truly horrible idea.
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 06:55 PM
Jul 22

But I know all kinds of people who'll immediately say, "Ooooh ... I need one."

On edit: And just great, it's already risky saying anything in a classroom that could be taken out of context or misinterpreted.

Beginning to think all students must enter through metal detectors which, without prior notice, emit sufficiently large but reasonably well channeled EMPs a 0.1 s intervals.

eppur_se_muova

(39,533 posts)
11. Divorce lawyers rejoice.
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 07:22 PM
Jul 22

Should have named it "Fly" -- as in, "how'd you like to be a fly on that wall?". Well, now you can !

Captain Zero

(8,180 posts)
30. Not so new. For years there have been usb thumb drives that do this.
Wed Jul 23, 2025, 09:33 AM
Wednesday

I bought one probably ten years ago online.
USB thumb drive with a battery on board.
Just carry it in your shirt pocket or lay it around your laptop or coffee cup.
There was a switch to make it voice activated or just continuous record for about 2 hours.
I took it to a couple of group meetings. For me, the recordings was just as boring as the meetings that I got invited to.

It's in my stuff somewhere. If you search around Amazon you can probably still buy one.

Bettie

(18,634 posts)
12. Oh, most of what I say should never, ever
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 08:09 PM
Jul 22

be recorded.

Who thinks that their every utterance is so important that it must be recorded?

Harker

(16,639 posts)
13. The same people who shoot selfies wherever they go...
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 08:39 PM
Jul 22

and post pictures of their lunch.

Bettie

(18,634 posts)
14. I sometimes send pictures of food I've made
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 09:10 PM
Jul 22

to a food group I'm in....but only special things, usually baked stuff that turned out well, or, sometimes that went horribly wrong, but it's a group for that kind of thing.

moonbeam23

(404 posts)
17. i can't imagine anything
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 09:49 PM
Jul 22

more f'd up than this

Who is going to buy into this pos? Has an entire generation just given up on using their own brains???

Granny Blue

(88 posts)
20. Hard of Hearing here, and I just bought something similar
Tue Jul 22, 2025, 10:31 PM
Jul 22

As I enter late stage deafness, I am finding speech very difficult to understand. I am missing words, and the brain guesses and fills in what it thinks it hears. Sometimes, the results are hilarious, but in other situations, it can be dangerous. Another factor is “listening fatigue”. The brain gets tired of working so hard to hear and understand speech and simply tunes out. This is a recipe for senility!

I grabbed this device because there is no AI, no app, and data transmission is completely wireless. It sits on the same wrist as my watch/activity tracker, its completely visible, I will explain it honestly when I need to turn it on. My doctors will be very comfortable knowing that I will clearly understand their instructions going forward. I can plug it in to my very secure computer and generate transcripts.

I think the problem is really the ubiqity of AI and the lack of any privacy regulations. I hope this will let me maintain my independence and make life less stressful. I just want to present another opinion on the usefulness of such a gadget!

I hope someday to carry a device like a star wars translator, which would instantaneously create transcripts with no AI or network on a screen. Dream on, right?

MuseRider

(34,851 posts)
33. Oh I could sure use that!
Wed Jul 23, 2025, 11:10 AM
Wednesday

After my strokes I got better but only to a point. I cannot remember a blasted thing anyone tells me and as annoying as it is to them it drives me crazy and I do mess up things from time to time.

Of course the thought of anyone recording me would drive me up the wall and make me angry as can be. So there it is.......

LudwigPastorius

(13,024 posts)
21. With technology like this, and Musk's Neurolink, we're on...
Wed Jul 23, 2025, 12:05 AM
Wednesday

the cusp of going full Black Mirror.

nuxvomica

(13,488 posts)
26. "feels less like a tool and more like a trusted companion"
Wed Jul 23, 2025, 08:27 AM
Wednesday

That is precisely what's wrong with it. It should feel like a tool, something the user has control over, and since it is not actually "a trusted companion" it seems really creepy that it should feel like one.

Bernardo de La Paz

(57,261 posts)
27. Also would record other side of conversations. If someone is wearing one, demand they take it off and turn it off. . .nt
Wed Jul 23, 2025, 08:33 AM
Wednesday

in2herbs

(3,859 posts)
31. Anyone who buys one of these and then complains about DOGE's invasion of our privacy should
Wed Jul 23, 2025, 10:03 AM
Wednesday

STFU.

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