Alexa alternatives have a secret weapon: Privacy

Earlier this week we learned that worldwide smart speaker sales are expected to increase sixfold within the next couple of years. This mirrors multiple studies that say the majority of U.S. households will have a smart speaker by 2022, powered by current leading intelligent assistants Google Assistant and Alexa. At the same time, tech giants making intelligent assistants seem to want to have it both ways, selling products to both consumers and governments. For example, Microsoft, maker of Cortana, may be supplying facial recognition software to ICE, the government agency tasked with capturing and detaining immigrants who are in the United States illegally. As Amazon rolls out deep learning camera Lens and fashion assistant Echo Look, the company has drawn pleas from employees, the ACLU, and a number of other organizations to stop sharing its facial recognition software with law enforcement agencies.