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I.am, the tech startup founded by pop star and entrepreneur will.i.am, The company, founded in 2012, initially focused on consumer electronics devices such as headphones. The new artificial intelligence product, similar to Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa, marks a sharp departure for the firm, which now employs about 300 people. Its most recent funding round, an $89 million investment by a group including Salesforce Ventures, closed in March but had not been previously announced. Will.i.am, who rose to prominence as a member of The Black Eyed Peas, said the corporate market offered the company an opportunity to quickly deploy and develop its assistant, called Omega.