Amazon opens Alexa AI tech for the first time so car makers can build custom assistants

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is giving car companies the unprecedented privilege of accessing the core artificial intelligence underpinning its Alexa digital assistant, a first for the company’s AI platform. While Amazon has allowed companies to build skills for Alexa and allows pretty much any consumer electronic device maker to integrate Alexa into a compatible product, the e-commerce giant has not licensed the underlying AI tech for use in other assistant-like products. Amazon is calling the new offering Alexa Custom Assistant. Amazon is doing so to allow automobile manufacturers more control over the software experiences in higher-end vehicles, as an extension of the existing Echo Auto program. This will allow car companies to create their own wake words... Continue reading…