Amazon and Microsoft collaborate to make Alexa and Cortana work together

It seems like an unlikely partnership but it’s been in the works for a while. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos first broached the idea to Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella about having their digital assistants work together around a year ago. And it looks like we might see that happen soon. In the near future, later this year to be exact, we’d just have to utter the words, “Alexa, open Cortana” or “Cortana, open Alexa” to be able to work with both platforms. According to both companies, this integration will benefit both users of the respective digital assistants. Amazon users will get better access to Cortana’s deep integration with Office Suite just from talking to Amazon’s smart speakers. Microsoft’s AI will get access to Alexa’s 20,000 skills and make it easier to shop on Amazon.com.

As mentioned, the two digital assistants are expected to start talking to each other later in the year. Alexa on Cortana will be coming to Windows 10 PCs first and then later on to the Android and iOS apps. At first glance, it seems this could be seen as Microsoft and Amazon trying to gain an advantage in the digital assistant space. But both CEOs claim they are willing to work with Apple and Google to integrate Siri and Google Assistant—if both companies are open to that, that is. We can’t say that’ll be in the cards in our future, especially with Apple and Google being particularly protective of their properties. But we have seen stranger things happen.

Source: Engadget