Summary #Amazon and #Microsoft are fierce rivals in the #cloudcomputing infrastructure industry. They have decided to collaborate on voice-assisted #artificialintelligence. Amazon was the first commercial promoter of voice-first artificial intelligence services via #Alexa. Microsoft’s #Cortana can benefit from the thousands of Alexa skills already available. Microsoft’s #Bing search engine gets access to Amazon Echo users. Alexa is now available on mobile devices and on cross-platform browsers. Cortana-enabled devices can help Microsoft monitor the Amazon shopping habits of Cortana users. The always-on feature of smart speakers is a good way to study people in their homes. Microsoft can improve its advertising business by building a better profile of people's Amazon shopping habits/preferences. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the fastest-growing rival of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in cloud infrastructure. Azure and AWS are the two leaders in the $11 billion/quarter cloud infrastructure business. However, they have entered into a new partnership. Microsoft and Amazon agreed to let each other’s voice-based artificial intelligence platforms Alexa and Cortana work together. By collaborating, Microsoft and Amazon positioned themselves to better benefit from the coming $13 billion (estimate for 2024) market for smart speakers. This initial cooperation can also lead to Azure and AWS accessing each other’s user population. Microsoft is promoting Cortana for the enterprise. Alexa is also being proposed to help small businesses. Some of the 20,000 Alexa skills available today allow businesses to interact with their product/service users/buyers.  (Source: Motek Moyen/Amazon/Microsoft) This new alliance can help negate the looming threat of Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) plan to offer its Google Assistant to third-party device manufacturers. Google Assistant is already considered as the best digital assistant. Amazon and Microsoft needed each other to keep pace with Google Assistant. Amazon and Microsoft both failed as a smartphone vendor. They can help each other become decent vendors of smart speakers. Bing has been providing the search engine requirement for Alexa-powered devices like the Echo. It could also become the default search engine for people accessing Alexa-enabled AWS services from their computers, tablets, and smartphones. Voice-based digital assistants can help Microsoft improve Bing’s low share in search engine usage (7% on desktop and 1.5% on mobile). People are now using Cortana as a search engine on Android/iOS devices and Xbox consoles. Going forward, voice assistants are important channels where businesses can interact with their customers. Instead of using touchscreen devices and computers to serve real-time AI services, screen-less devices like the Amazon Echo can be more convenient to ask about a company’s products/services. Instead of putting up expensive CRM solutions, businesses can code a Cortana or Alexa chatbot to build lasting relationships with their customers.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4103989-getting-bed-amazon-made-microsoft-stronger
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