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Amazon has acquired Bee, a San Francisco startup that makes a $50 artificial intelligence (AI) bracelet designed to record conversations and create daily summaries. The purchase marks Amazon’s return to wearable devices after shutting down its Halo fitness tracker in 2023.
Bee co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo announced the deal Tuesday on LinkedIn. Amazon confirmed the acquisition but stated that it has not yet closed. All Bee employees received offers to join Amazon as part of the transaction, said Amazon spokesperson Alexandra Miller, who declined to reveal the purchase price.
Bee’s Pioneer bracelet records conversations throughout the day. It uses AI to make to-do lists, reminders, and conversation summaries. The device retails for $49.99 plus a $19 monthly subscription and offers a seven-day battery life with support for 40 languages.
“When we started Bee, we imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with you,” Zollo wrote in her LinkedIn post. “What began as a dream with an incredible team and community now finds a new home at Amazon.”
The startup, incorporated as Bluush Inc. in 2022, has raised approximately $8.5 million from investors, according to PitchBook data. Bee’s team includes between two to 10 employees based on LinkedIn profiles.
Privacy concerns surround the device, which records everything it hears unless manually muted. Eleven U.S. states, including Massachusetts, Florida, and California, require consent from everyone before conversations can be recorded.
“We design our products to protect our customers’ privacy and security and to make it easy for them to be in control of their experience — and this approach would of course apply to Bee,” Miller said in an email.
Bee says it doesn’t store audio recordings or use them for AI training. The company is building a “fencing” feature that lets users set topic and location limits that automatically pause recording.
The acquisition signals Amazon’s renewed interest in personal devices beyond its Echo speakers and Ring cameras. Amazon previously made wrist-worn devices under its Halo brand as health trackers. The company axed the project in 2023 as part of broader cuts to experimental hardware.
The purchase comes as tech companies compete to develop AI wearables. Meta has added AI to its Ray-Ban smart glasses. OpenAI is reportedly working on screenless wearable devices. Samsung has looked into AI jewelry concepts.
Other AI wearable attempts have failed. Humane’s $499 AI Pin and Rabbit’s r1 device could not find market success. Bee’s lower price may solve cost problems that hurt competitors.
Amazon could eventually incorporate Bee technology to future Alexa devices. The company relaunched its voice assistant with new AI capabilities earlier this year.
Early reviews noted the device sometimes confused television dialogue with real conversations, though users found value in meeting summaries and task reminders generated from daily interactions.
