Smart rings, smart screens, smart TVs, smart pins, smart … ice cube machines? Yes, why not! AI was everywhere at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where companies large and small showed how they are bringing AI to more devices. For Amazon, CES was a time to show off its newest acquisition in the space: Bee, an artificial intelligence device that can be worn as a clip-on pin or a bracelet.
Amazon already has an entry into AI consumer devices with Alexa, whose upgraded AI-powered version, Alexa+, can run on 97% of the hardware devices Amazon has supplied. But with Bee, the company gets access to a wearable that can extend its reach outside the home.
Bee is largely designed to record conversations like interviews, meetings or classes, and also acts as an AI companion. The AI has access to world knowledge and learns more about you from a combination of your recordings and the services you give it access to, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, your phone’s contacts and Apple Health.
Given that Amazon has already tried to integrate Alexa into wearables like earphones and glasses, it might seem like the company is muddying the waters with the addition of another AI companion. However, these previous Alexa devices haven’t caught on with the competition like Apple’s AirPods and Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses. Amazon seems to understand this, which is why it’s adding Bee to its lineup.
“We see each other as complementary friends,” Bee co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo says of Bee’s relationship with Alexa in an interview at CES last week. “Bee has the understanding of outside the house and Alexa has the understanding of inside the house. Of course there will be a future where these two things come together.”
That future does not yet mean that Bee’s AI will be replaced by Alexa. Noted Amazon Alexa VP Daniel Rausch, Amazon believes what the team at Bee created is an “important and lovable experience.” He describes Bee as a “deeply engaging and personable” AI, but he also agreed that Alexa and Bee would get together at some point.
“We know that it will create even more benefit for customers than anything else [the AI experiences] do on their own,” Rausch explained. “When you have access to the power of these AI experiences with you throughout the day, and they’re continuous — we’re going to be able to do so much more for customers.”
De Lourdes Zollo said Bee learns from its users, gaining an understanding of their patterns, insights and commitments, which can help it suggest things to do and follow-ups throughout the day.
Early use cases have included students recording lectures, older people who have trouble remembering things, and people who speak for a living and don’t always want to take notes manually.
“They just want a place to have everyone summarize everything they said,” Bee’s co-founder said. “So based on that, we build a really big graph of knowledge [about] you, where you can go and chat with Bee and get an understanding of what happened to you, but also how you change throughout your life,” de Lourdes Zollo added.
Similar to Alexa, Bee uses a combination of AI models under the hood, but it’s exploring adding Amazon’s AI as one into the mix. After transcribing the conversation, Bee discards the audio, making it impractical for many work-related use cases where you need to replay the conversation to ensure accuracy.
There’s still a lot ahead for Bee in 2026, they teased Lourdes Zollo without giving anything away. In addition to recent announcements of new features and functionality — such as voice memos, templates, daily insights and more — the founder said the eight-person team is working on “a lot of new things” out of its headquarters in San Francisco, where Amazon already has a large number of hardware and Alexa employees.
“Honestly, it’s endless possibilities now, and that’s one of the reasons we’re really excited to be a part of Amazon,” she said.