Amazon's Bee launches a new AI wearable for ambient computing

Amazon's Bee launched a new AI wearable device on October 15. The same day, Panos Panay, Amazon's SVP of Devices, Alexa and Leo, shared his vision at TechCrunch Disrupt: the future of personal AI lies not in apps, but in smart devices that understand what you need.

He calls them ambient devices — they run in the background, use sensors and AI to figure out what you need, and don't wait for commands. That means people can stay focused on the moment and spend more time with others.

Panay stressed that privacy comes first, and users must stay in control. He spent 19 years at Microsoft working on Surface before joining Amazon, and believes people will lean less on apps as AI takes over more tasks.

Still, he doesn't think smartphones are going away. Instead, a smart layer will connect all devices and make everything around us smarter.