Amazon has acquired Bee, a San Francisco-based startup that makes a budget-friendly AI wristband, as confirmed by Bee’s CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo in a LinkedIn post. The $49.99 wristband, which looks like a simple fitness tracker, uses two microphones to listen to your conversations and create summaries, reminders, and to-do lists without requiring a monthly subscription. This move marks Amazon’s latest step into wearable AI devices.
What is the Bee AI Wristband?
- Design: The Bee wristband is a small, black plastic device with a Fitbit-like look. It has two microphones, a USB-C port, a mute button, and a status light. You can wear it on your wrist or clip it to your clothes.
- Features: The wristband listens to your day-to-day talks (unless muted) and uses AI to make summaries, to-do lists, and reminders. It can access your emails, contacts, photos, location, and calendar with permission to create a searchable history of your activities. It also supports up to 40 languages.
- How It Works: Press the mute button to stop recording or hold it to ask the AI a question. Answers come through your phone’s speakers or headphones, as the wristband has no screen or speakers.
- Battery Life: Lasts 3-7 days, depending on how often you mute it.
- No Subscription: Unlike some AI devices, Bee’s wristband doesn’t require a monthly fee, making it one of the cheapest AI wearables at $49.99.
Why Amazon Bought Bee
Amazon sees Bee’s wristband as a way to bring personal AI to more people. Unlike Amazon’s Echo speakers or discontinued Halo fitness band, the Bee wristband is a low-cost, always-on device that acts like a personal assistant. It learns your habits and helps with tasks like remembering meetings or creating lists.
Amazon confirmed the deal but noted it’s not finalized yet. All Bee employees have been offered jobs at Amazon, likely to work under the Devices division led by Panos Panay.
The Bee wristband stands out for its low price compared to other AI wearables, like the $499 Humane AI Pin or $199 Rabbit R1, which struggled to gain popularity. Early reviews, like one from The Verge, note that Bee’s AI sometimes confuses real conversations with TV or video dialogue but still finds it helpful and fun.
Amazon’s acquisition shows its focus on affordable, voice-driven AI devices, competing with Meta’s smart glasses and rumored AI hardware from Apple and OpenAI.
Privacy Concerns
Bee claims it doesn’t store audio or use it to train AI, and all data is encrypted on your phone. You can set boundaries, like muting the device in certain places or for specific topics, and it only records your voice after training unless you allow it to include others.
However, some worry about privacy, especially since Amazon has faced criticism for sharing user data from devices like Ring cameras in the past. It’s unclear if Amazon will change Bee’s privacy policies after the acquisition.
Availability
The Bee wristband is available in the US for $49.99 through Bee’s website and select retailers like Amazon. An Android app is expected by late July 2025, joining the existing iPhone and Apple Watch apps. While the deal with Amazon is still in progress, the wristband remains on sale as a standalone product for now.
The Bee AI wristband offers an affordable way to try wearable AI, and Amazon’s acquisition could make it even more popular by integrating it with their devices like Alexa.
