Samsung buys Viv Labs in pursuit of its own AI assistant

Samsung is turning its attention to personal assistants--the company has acquired Viv Labs, a startup founded by Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer, and Chris Brigham, all of whom were part of the original Siri team that Apple bought in 2010. The three departed Apple shortly after the acquisition to start Viv Labs, which recently showed off its AI personal assistant at Disrupt NY. While pricing has not been disclosed, the deal has been confirmed by Kittlaus in a post on Medium. Viv Labs will continue to operate independently from Samsung, but it will share intelligence with the hardware manufacturer with the intent of integrating Viv into products. "Samsung will drastically accelerate our vision," Kittlaus writes.