Instead of creating their own version of Siri, Samsung has decided to just buy the team that made Siri! That’s poaching 101 – respect. The team that made Siri started a company called Viv labs which Samsung acquired at an undisclosed fee. We can only assume good things are to come from this collaboration.
Siri was made whilst the trio, Adam Cheyer, Dag Kittlaus and Chris Brigham were involved with Apple. They then branched out to start Viv Labs to research their own interests including artificial intelligence assistants. They ‘wowed’ an audience at Disrupt, New York where they showcased their next generation artificial intelligence assistant called, Viv. Viv will still operate as an independent company whilst working side-by-side with Samsung.
“Our focus is really more device-centric,” Injong Rhee – Samsung’s mobile unit CTO - “How do we revolutionize how users interact with our devices and appliances?”
This move also continues Samsung's ongoing efforts to break from any dependence on Google services; Samsung Pay competes directly with Android Pay, and now Viv could be Samsung's answer to the big feature in Google's new hardware family. Samsung is fully committed to AI, according to the post from Viv Labs CEO Dag Kittlaus:
“Samsung is setting its sights on becoming a major player in software and services, and specifically AI. Samsung Pay has already proven to be one of the most successful mobile payment platforms in the market and SmartThings is another software acquisition signalling their conviction. And they have installed a new cadre of senior SW-savvy management stretching all the way to the top with a mission. You will soon come to see the utter seriousness of Samsung’s intentions. And like us, they aim to win.”
Source (c): Dag Kittlaus (CEO Siri)