This shows a return to the wearable tech space after its failed Halo project.

The deal is not final yet, but Amazon confirmed the acquisition plans shortly after Bee’s co-founder and CEO, Maria de Lourdes Zollo, announced it on LinkedIn.

The post, which also thanked Panos Panay, Amazon’s senior executive in devices and services, pointed to Bee falling under his unit once the transaction closes.

Launched in 2022, Bee has created a $50 wearable device, paired with a $19 monthly subscription, designed to passively listen to conversations and generate summaries, to-do lists, and reminders. While that may sound intrusive, Bee says it prioritises user control. The bracelet can be muted manually, and Zollo’s team claims users can delete data at will.

“We imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with you,” Zollo wrote. She did not respond to direct questions following the announcement.

At the heart of Bee’s technology is a promise of an AI companion that listens constantly but respectfully. The company claims it won’t save audio recordings, nor use them to train its AI models. However, it does retain the data the AI collects about a user, what the device learns from interactions.

Bee also stated it’s developing tools that allow users to limit when and where the device operates. This includes the ability to pause recording based on location or topic, as well as building on-device AI processing to reduce reliance on cloud storage, steps it says are meant to bolster trust.

Still, we’d see if these principles will survive once Bee becomes part of Amazon. The tech giant’s record on data privacy faced issues after its Ring subsidiary gave law enforcement access to user camera footage without consent or warrants. 

In 2023, Ring also settled Federal Trade Commission claims that its employees and contractors had overly broad access to private video data.

This acquisition shows Amazon’s effort to reinvent how users interact with its technology. After the demise of the Halo fitness tracker line in 2023, and with competition from Meta’s AI glasses, OpenAI’s io acquisition, and rumours of Apple’s entry into AI wearables, Amazon appears to be recalibrating its strategy. 

With Bee, Amazon is entering a crowded, risky space with enormous upside if executed right.

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Won-joon Choi, chief operating officer of Samsung’s mobile experience division, told CNN that the company is looking into new wearable form factors that blend seamlessly into users’ daily lives while offering utility. 

“We believe it should be wearable, something that you shouldn’t carry, (that) you don’t need to carry. So it could be something that you wear, glasses, earrings, watches, rings, and sometime (a) necklace,” Choi said.

The strategy is both about hardware and a change in how Samsung views the future of personal tech. Devices aren’t simply tools anymore, they are accessories designed to reduce dependency on smartphones.

Samsung is not alone in this direction. Meta, OpenAI, Google, Snap, and others are racing to develop similar hardware. Meta has already sold over 2 million AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses since 2023 and recently bought a stake in Ray-Ban parent EssilorLuxottica, deepening its commitment to smart eyewear. 

Samsung, meanwhile, is collaborating with Google on augmented reality glasses and is reportedly developing an advanced microdisplay, according to Korea Economic Daily.

When asked whether Samsung is actively developing earrings or other wearable tech, Choi said, “We are looking at all kinds of possibilities.” His comments point to the fact that while these ideas are still in early stages, Samsung is serious about redefining the concept of wearables as fashion-integrated tech.

But ambition alone won’t guarantee success. Several tech startups have already tried and failed to deliver smartphone alternatives. Humane’s AI Pin collapsed due to poor performance and high costs, eventually leading the company to shut down and sell assets to HP. 

Rabbit R1 underwhelmed on arrival. Friend, another startup, promised a smart necklace but has delayed its release to later this year.

Samsung, however, seems to be taking a more measured path. Choi clarified that the company isn’t trying to replace smartphones outright. Instead, the upcoming wearables would function as extensions, similar to how its smartwatches currently complement its phones.

That careful positioning may be important. Unlike some devices that try to be everything at once, Samsung’s vision is to offer specific functionality in subtle, wearable form. “We are actively working on glasses, but some people do not want to wear glasses because they change their look,” Choi added. “So we are also exploring other types of devices.”

In short, Samsung wants to meet users where they are, in their routines, on their bodies, and within their fashion choices. Whether it’s a necklace that lets you message someone or earrings that listen and respond, the idea is to make tech invisible but indispensable.

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