Microsoft and Amazon have partnered their A.I. assistants, Cortana and Alexa, with the two set to talk to each other later this year, according to a report.
The partnership will allow Amazon “instant foothold in about 150 million Cortana-enabled Windows 10 computers, and the Redmond giant will get Cortana on Alexa-enabled devices.”
“The two AI assistants will begin talking to each other later this year,” claimed Gadgets 360 on Wednesday, before adding that the partnership “will also enable Cortana to work with Alexa on a range of devices.”
“As part of the unusual partnership, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to say Alexa will be able to work with Office products, a feature of Cortana that he particularly liked,” they continued. “Cortana users will be able to use Alexa to shop on Amazon.com and manage their orders… They will also get access to ‘Cortana’s world knowledge and helpful productivity features such as calendar management, day at a glance and location-based reminders simply by asking Alexa to open Cortana.'”
In a statement, Microsoft announced, “Cortana users will now have another way of making their lives easier with a great shopping experience.”
“Say you are at work, and you receive a text from your partner saying, ‘We’re running low on diapers.’ In the future, on your Windows 10 PC, iPhone or Android phone, you could simply say, ‘Hey Cortana, open Alexa,’ and ask Alexa to order diapers using your preferred payment method for your Amazon account,” they explained. “With Cortana as a guest on Alexa, Alexa users will have access to some of Cortana’s most useful productivity capabilities that help people stay organized and on top of what’s important to them.”
“What if you’re making breakfast in the morning and need to know if you have enough time to drop off the dry-cleaning before work? On your Alexa device, you can say, ‘Alexa, open Cortana,’ and ask when your first meeting is,” claimed Microsoft. “If you won’t have enough time, simply ask Alexa to open Cortana again and set a reminder for the end of your workday to drop off the clothes.”
According to the report, Amazon is also “open” to forming partnerships with other A.I. assistants.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington and Gab @Nash, or like his page at Facebook.
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