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Samsung gobbles Siri maker

Samsung has announced that it's buying AI startup Viv Labs, the company responsible for building Apple's digital assistant Siri.

"Viv was built with both consumers and developers in mind," said Injong Rhee, CTO of the mobile communications business at Samsung.

"This dual focus is also what attracted us to Viv as an ideal candidate to integrate with Samsung home appliances, wearables and more, as the paradigm of how we interact with technology shifts to intelligent interfaces and voice control."

The timing of the announcement might not be accidental. It's the largest producer of Android smartphones in the world, and on Tuesday Google announced it is beginning volume sales of its Pixel handsets, powered by the Chocolate Factory's own AI assistant.

Viv will continue to operate as an independent company and Samsung is going to make its AI engine open to third-party developers. Viv will also advise Samsung on good AI hires and company buys in the future. ®

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