If you have ever used an AI transcription service for meetings, calls, lectures, or more, you know how good the technology is at capturing every detail of a conversation and converting it into text. Now, imagine a world where you could access an AI-generated transcription of every real-world interaction you have. Enter the Bee AI wearable.
On Wednesday, Bee CEO Maria de Lourdes announced via LinkedIn that Bee is joining Amazon. The concept behind Bee is simple: a $49 wristband equipped with mics and AI that is worn at all times to listen in on your everyday interactions, transcribe them, and provide additional insights like conversational search, action recommendations, and more.
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The details of the deal were not disclosed. However, Amazon’s interest in making the purchase, paired with the release and popularity of other AI hardware products such as the Meta Oakley AI smartglasses, makes one thing clear — AI-first hardware is about to have a big moment.
The Bee Wearable
The Bee AI-wearable is meant to be an AI companion that is passively with you at all times during the day. While at first, the product may sound invasive and superfluous, at CES 2025, I wore and demoed the wristband, and the real-world applications of the product became evident.
Using audio, the wristband captures conversations all day unless manually paused with the button on it. It then gets to know you and provides AI summaries of your conversations, transcripts — which you can parse using a chatbot interface — and actionable insights. The battery is supposed to last seven days, enabling users to really use it as a companion without having to worry about recharging at different times during the day.
The use cases are endless. An obvious example: being in a meeting and wanting to reference the notes later. Less so: things you wouldn’t typically be able to refer back to, such as revisiting a previous conversation you had with a roommate in which they mentioned what they wanted you to get from the store, what name the person you just met was, or even when your friend said their birthday was. You can even get feedback on how you handled a situation, asking something like “How could I have reacted better in that situation?”
Naturally, people may have concerns about having a wearable listen to them at every moment during the day. When I spoke to co-founder Ethan Sutin at CES, he reassured me that no humans can see the conversations, and the data will not be sold or used for training.
There are no details on what Amazon plans to do with the band, and it is very possible the final product will look a lot different and more in line with the suite of existing Amazon AI products, including an integration into the Alexa ecosystem. Amazon is deeply involved in the AI space with its Nova foundation models, which could be integrated into the product to make it better.
A growing market
As generative AI becomes more ubiquitous, the technology has become increasingly embedded into products. Nearly every new phone, headphone, smartwatch, and wearable now has a generative AI feature or experience aimed at optimizing users’ interactions with their devices. However, to bring AI assistance to the next level, you need a device that captures as much information as possible in real time, giving way to a new kind of product.
This type of product has been attempted before, such as the Rabbit R1 or the Humane AI pin. However, one of the biggest problems with those launches — beyond performance — is that they required people to carry an extra device they typically wouldn’t want to. As a result, we are seeing companies trying their hand at new form factors that can offer users easy AI access and experiences with subtly.
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OpenAI has a hardware AI product in the works, seen by its acquisition of the Jony Ive startup. At Google I/O 2025, Google gave more details about its Android XR glasses, which pack Gemini’s assistance, in-lens displays, speakers, cameras, and mics into the form of traditional eyeglasses. Meta just partnered with luxury eyewear brand Oakley to release smartglasses embedded with Meta AI with even longer battery life, making it easier for users to always access an assistant.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET’s parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
As companies compete to release a wearable that makes AI the most accessible and appealing for users to add to their device rotation, this market is bound to become more saturated in the near future.
You can keep up with my latest stories and tech adventures on social media. Follow me on Twitter/X at @sabrinaa_ortiz and on Instagram at @sabrinaa.ortiz.
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