As part of Samsung's vision to propel technology to new heights, the South Korean-based electronics company bought Viv Labs, the company responsible for Apple's famous digital companion "Siri."
According to Business Insider, news of the acquisition came from a press release by the company. The press release also cited that Viv Labs developed a unique, open artificial intelligence (AI) platform that will give third-party developers the ability to use and build their own conversational assistants.
The Why. https://t.co/FZOh6hceeF
— Dag Kittlaus (@Dagk) October 5, 2016
Business insider also mentions Google and Facebook's acquisition battle for Viv Labs last May, and that it is unknown how much Samsung had paid for the acquisition. Additionally, according to CNBC, Viv Labs has been Samsung's fifth acquisition in about a year and a half. Company acquisitions range from payments to AI.
Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham - The minds behind Siri founded Viv Labs. While Viv Labs will be working closely with Samsung's mobile team, it will operate independently and under its own management.
Samsung's acquisition of Viv Labs puts it in league with tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft who are also venturing into the world of AI and various personal support technologies. Last Tuesday, Google unveiled "Google Assistant"-- its AI-powered system that works through its Home hub or smartphones, according to CNBC.
The press release from Streetinsider says that Viv Labs has sophisticated language understanding, machine learning capabilities and strategic partnerships unlike other existing AI-based services. And these qualities will help develop a broader service ecosystem.
"Viv was built with both consumers and developers in mind. This dual focus is also what attracted us to Viv as an ideal candidate to integrate with Samsung home appliances, wearables and more, as the paradigm of how we interact with technology shifts to intelligent interfaces and voice control." Cites the release
