Amazon Echo: Voice-controlled AI speaker to launch in UK in Autumn

Many users see it as the most advanced and useful of the voice-activated virtual servants, improving upon efforts from Apple, Google and Microsoft despite Amazon having less of a visible track record in artificial intelligence. Much of the artificial intelligence software that powers the Echo was developed at Amazon's research and development base in Cambridge after the company bought Evi, an artificial intelligence startup in 2013. Since the Echo has an always-on microphone that is constantly listening and stores a history of commands in order to learn from them, it has raised snooping fears. Limp sought to dismiss these concerns, saying that the device will only record when activated by the "Alexa" wake word, and that a button on the device can mute the microphone. Users will also be able to delete any previous queries on Amazon's app.