From the Seeking Alpha News Feed
Facebook buys voice recognition tech developer • 5:58 PM
Eric Jhonsa, SA News Editor
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has bought Wit.ai, creator of a voice recognition tech platform that breaks down voice commands into structured information (a user’s intent, dates and places mentioned, etc.). Terms are undisclosed.
Wit.ai claims its platform is used by over 6,000 developers, and is “already powering hundreds of apps and devices.” TechCrunch speculates Facebook could use Wit.ai to “build voice control into its development platform, aid with voice-to-text input for Messenger, improve Facebook’s understanding of the semantic meaning of voice, and create a Facebook app you can navigate with your voice.” Oculus is another possibility.
Facebook, which has already given 3rd-party developers plenty of free tools with the goal of keeping them actively supporting its platform (and perhaps its ad products?), plans to keep Wit.ai’s platform freely available.
Like other tech giants, Facebook has shown a keen interest in natural language-processing for some time.