The Race for AI-Enabled, Natural-Language and Voice Interface Platforms

Did you ever stop to wonder: What is Amazon not doing with technology? These days, you'd be hard-pressed to answer that question, given the company's incessant schedule for announcing updates and new products. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant is seemingly everywhere--whether it's the latest cloud offerings in AWS, new entertainment shows on Prime, automated retail stores, leased fleets of Boeing jets, smart speakers, payment systems, autonomous cars and trucks, freight forwarding companies, or airborne warehouses. Amazon also happens to have warehouses within 20 miles of 44% of the population of the United States, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. In many of the company's recent announcements, Amazon's voice assistant Alexa plays a central role.