Samsung Acquires AI Assistant Tech Viv To Join the AI Race

Samsung has acquired Viv Labs, the artificial intelligence startup that developed Viv, which has been described as a Techcrunch report as a "more extensible, powerful version of Siri."

The AI and assistant system has been created by Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham who were the original designers of Siri, Apple's famed AI assistant. Apple acquired Siri in 2010 and the three founders who had joined Apple left three years after that. They subsequently started Viv in 2012.

With this acquisition, Samsung joins other tech giants in having an AI product that can be integrated into a variety of gadgets for daily use.

According to reports, Viv will function as a stand-alone unit, while providing its services to Samsung's products.

"Viv brings a conversational interface that we can apply across our devices," said Jacopo Lenzi a top Samsung official in a statement to USA TODAY. "While we're not talking about our product roadmap just yet, this acquisition is led out of mobile group, so we'll first map onto those devices and then move on to appliances and TV.

Lenzi is senior vice president of business development and strategic acquisitions at Samsung Global Innovation Center, which is the division that led the Viv acquisition deal.

According to Lenzi Viv should be found in Samsung phones over the next year.

Viv has been touted as the next-generation AI assistant capable of handling complex everyday questions and conversations. It can reportedly carry out tasks like ordering flowers online, researching weather or making reservations via natural language commands.

Kittlaus has been visiting major tech events this year demonstrating its capabilities. One of the demonstrated complex query that Viv can handle is "Will it be warmer than 70-degrees near the Golden Gate Bridge after 5PM on the day after tomorrow?"

Kittlaus said while the company hadn't been looking for a buyer, the deal became a reality after it was felt that both their visions were aligned.

" Our goal was always getting ubiquity. Samsung will drastically accelerate our vision. They represent a truly massive distribution channel for the idea" of sophisticated AI," said Kittlaus.