Skip to Content
Silicon Valley

Amazon wants to put Alexa in the workplace

The e-tailer’s famous personal assistant could soon be helping arrange your meetings.

The news: Axios reports that Amazon is going to launch Alexa for Business to give enterprise software a way to use voice controls. Concur and Salesforce are already building products that respond to spoken commands, and firms including WeWork and CapitalOne will be among the first to officially implement the devices in their offices.

Why the office? Alexa will get to hear new things by entering corporate environments, and more data means more opportunities for its AI to learn. If it works well—and businesses don’t mind putting always-on microphones in their buildings—it could be a lucrative source of information for Amazon. Not to mention a much easier way for office managers to bulk-order snacks.

But: There’s competition. Cisco has built its own voice AI for businesses, and Microsoft’s Cortana already works with some of the firm’s enterprise software. (Speaking of which: Alexa and Cortana are supposed to be getting friendly, but Amazon tells Axios the news won’t affect that.)

Plus: Let’s hope Alexa doesn’t burst into laughter during a meeting.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets

When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.

The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.

Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.

Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch

Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.