Line looks beyond smartphones to AI voice agents

Since its messaging app debuted in June 2011, Line Corp. has shaken up the online communications landscape in Japan and morphed into a player in smartphone communications infrastructure. So Line is planting the seeds of success for what it thinks will be the next big thing: voice-based "AI agents." While this artificial-intelligence quest will pit the smaller Line against IT powerhouses Google, Apple and Amazon, among others, Line CEO Takeshi Idezawa likes his chances. "We are taking on a new challenge because we believe we have the assets to win the battle," Idezawa told The Japan Times in a recent interview. This is quite a change for a firm that owes its success to a prescient bet on smartphones less than a decade ago.