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00:00EMILY: IN 2010, THIS MAN RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM STEVE JOBS. HE WAS PROMOTING A DEAL FOR THE FIRST TRUE AUTOMATED VIRTUAL PERSONAL ASSISTANT AT KICKBOXING HAD BUILT FOR $200 MILLION. THAT WAS SERIOUS. HE AGREED TO THE PROPOSAL. THEORY BECAME THE PROPOSAL -- SIRI BECAME THE ONSLAUGHT OF MANY OTHERS. 50% OF HOUSEHOLDS USE INTELLIGENCE ASSISTANTS. THIS MAN IS CONTINUING TO LEAD THE VOICE REVOLUTION. THE AI COMPANY IS BEHIND SAMSUNG 60 WHICH JUST OPENED TO THIRD-PARTY DEVELOPERS IT I SAT DOWN TO TALK ABOUT STEVE JOBS AND THE FUTURE OF VOICE TECHNOLOGY. > > STARTED WITH A PHONE CALL. HE CALLED ME OUT OF THE BLUE AND SAID WE LOVE WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND CAN YOU COME OVER TO MY HOUSE. I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH YOU. EMILY: DID YOU FALL OUT OF YOUR CHAIR? > > A LITTLE BIT. NOT THE NORMAL STARTUP ROUTINE AFTER YOU LAUNCH AND HAVE STEVE JOBS CALL YOU AND INVITE YOU OVER, BUT WE WERE FLATTERED, BUT WE WERE VERY INTERESTED. EMILY: YOU WENT. > > WE WENT. EMILY: YOU MET WITH HIM. > > WE HAD A THREE-HOUR DISCUSSION IN FORD -- IN FRONT OF THE FIREPLACE. CHATTING ABOUT THE FUTURE. HE WAS CONVINCING US THAT THEY WOULD WIN THE SMARTPHONE AWARDS. WE CALLED IT THROWING IN TOGETHER, THAT WE CAN REALLY BUILD A NEW WAY TO INTERACT ESPECIALLY THE IPHONE. EMILY: AT A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT COMPANIES WERE TRYING TO BUY SIRI. > > WE HAD OFFERS BUT WE WERE NOT READY TO SELL. WHEN STEVE CALLS AND EVERY TECHNOLOGIST WANTS TO TAKE WHAT THEY ARE WORKING ON, THEIR BABY AND GO BIG WITH IT, THAT WAS A PRETTY HARD THING TO REVIEWS. BUT WE DID DECIDE -- IT WAS A LONG PROCESS. AND HE CALLED ME LIKE 37 DAYS IN A ROW. HE WAS CALLING ME AT MIDNIGHT. HE WAS VERY INVOLVED AND ENGAGED IN GETTING SIRI TO BE A PART OF IT. EMILY: THAT IS WHAT YOU MEAN BYEMILY: RELENTLESS. HE WENT TO DEVELOP WITH HIM. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? > > HE WAS VERY ACTIVE > > IN THIS. WE MET EVERY WEEK AND WENT THROUGH WHAT WE WANT HER TO DO FOR THE FIRST THING OF APPLE? IT WAS FUN TO WORK WITH SOMEBODY LIKE HIM, SO DETAIL ORIENTED, HAD A STRONG OPINION ABOUT WHAT IT SHOULD DO. EMILY: WHAT WAS HIS VISION AND HOW DIDN ' T DRIVE YOURS? DAG: THE FIRST THING HE WANTED WAS TO MAKE IT REVOLVE AROUND THE BASIC EVERYDAY USE CASES, CALLING AND MESSAGING, REMINDERS AND THINGS YOU SAW IN THE FIRST VERSION OF SIRI. WE WANTED TO GET INTO MORE THINGS LIKE CONVERSATIONAL COMMERCE, THE ABILITY TO BUY A BOOK AND RESERVE THINGS, TAKE THINGS THAT WERE HARDER TO DO WITH YOUR PHONE. BECAUSE YOU CAN USE YOUR VOICE TO DO IT, MAKE IT MUCH EASIER. EMILY: THE FUNNY THING, ARE YOU A MAN OR A WOMAN? WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF HER GENDER? DAG: SIRI IS ACTUALLY GENDERLESS EVEN THOUGH THE NAME IN NORWEGIAN MEANS BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WHO LEADS YOU TO VICTORY, WE DECIDED NOT TO MAKE IT ONE GENDER OR ANOTHER AND HAVE IT BE A PERSONA THAT IS THERE TO HELP YOU. EMILY: AND YOU ARE RIGHT, YOU CAN CHOOSE MALE VOICES AS WELL AS A DEFAULT. SIRI WAS FIRST INTEGRATED INTO THE IPHONE 4S. NOW WE ARE UP TO THE IPHONE XS. HAS IT LIVED UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS? DAG: ON THE POSITIVE SIDE IT HAS GOTTEN FASTER, SPEECH RECOGNITION IS BETTER. I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE SIRI EVOLVE TO DO MORE THINGS, HAVE GREATER CAPABILITIES TO BECOME A BIGGER PART OF YOUR LIFE, MERELY BECAUSE IT IS DOING SO MANY THINGS FOR YOU. THAT WAS THE GENESIS FOR THE NEXT COMPANY WE STARTED WAS HOW DO WE MAKE IT GO FROM NOT A NOVELTY BUT SORT OF UTILITY IN YOUR LIFE TO SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER, A PARADIGM , BE REALLY RELIANT ON AND USE IN YOUR EVERYDAY WORLD. EMILY: WHY HASN ' T SIRI GOTTEN THEIR? IS IT APPLE? DAG: TO SOME EXTENT. THEY HAD A DIFFERENT FOCUS THAN WHERE WE STARTED ORIGINALLY. EMILY: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE APPLE DO DIFFERENTLY? DAG: SEE THEM OPEN UP TO A THIRD-PARTY ECOSYSTEM. THAT IS SOMETHING WE ARE DOING NO. I THINK THAT IS THE BIG MISSING PIECE. IF YOU LOOK AT SOMETHING LIKE THE APP STORE, IT IS A PERFECT METAPHOR. THE IPHONE ACTUALLY LAUNCHED IN 2007 WITH A FEW APPLE APPS ON IT, THE WEATHER AND BASIC THINGS. WHEN THE APPS STORE OPENED, IT UNLEASHED CREATIVITY OF DEVELOPERS AROUND THE WORLD. EMILY: YOU TOOK THE RARE STEP OF STARTING YOUR NEXT -- SELLING YOUR NEXT START UP TO SAMSUNG INSTEAD OF A U.S. COMPANY. WHY? DAG: WE WANTED UBIQUITY. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE FACT SAMSUNG SELLS 500 MILLION DEVICES A YEAR OF ALL DIFFERENT TYPES, WE SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE OUR TECHNOLOGY AND PUT IT IN PLACE WHERE IT CAN AFFECT MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, LOTS OF DIFFERENT CONTEXT, DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEVICES, THE SHEER SCALE IS AN IDEAL PLATFORM. EMILY: YOU TALKED ABOUT BIXBY. WHAT DO YOU THINK HE CAN COMPETE WITH APPLE AND AMAZON AND GOOGLE AT THIS POINT? DAG: ONE OF THE POINTS I MADE AT THE TALK YESTERDAY IF PEOPLE DON ' T REMEMBER THIS BUT GOOGLE WAS THE 14TH SEARCH ENGINE TO ENTER THE MARKET. WE ARE STILL IN CHAPTER ONE, NOT EVEN THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS STORY. I DON ' T BELIEVE THERE IS A TIMING ISSUE. WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS GAIN MOMENTUM AND GET THE WORLD OF THE DEVELOPERS IN AN APP STORE LIKE WAY BUT BRING IT TO AI. WE HAVE A THOUSAND THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH AN ASSISTANT, IT BECOMES A MUCH MORE IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR DAY. EMILY: YOU THINK WE WILL BE RELYING ON ONE OR TWO LIKE GOOGLE, JUST ONE, OR DO YOU SEE US USING MONEY IN THE FUTURE? DAG: ULTIMATELY IT WILL BOIL DOWN TO A FEW. YOU WILL SEE MINOR ASSISTANTS THAT WILSON SPECIALIZED -- THAT WILL SPECIALIZE IN THINGS. YOU BECOME SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR LIFE, ALL THE PERSONALIZATION IT LEARNS ABOUT YOU, I THINK ULTIMATELY IT WILL, USE ONE FAR MORE THAN OTHERS. IT BECOMES MORE LIKE THE SEARCH MARKET. EMILY: DO YOU SEE THIS BEING INTEGRATED INTO WASHING MACHINES AND REFRIGERATORS? DAG: IT IS ALREADY HAPPENING. YOU WILL HAVE IT SOONER THAN LATER. BIXBY WILL BE ON A BILLION DEVICES, AND THAT IS JUST SAMSUNG. WE WILL OPEN IT UP TO OTHER THIRD-PARTY HARDWARE AS WELL. EMILY: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO THINK HE ' S LISTENING DEVICES ARE CREEPY AND THEY DON ' T TRUST -- THESE LISTENING DEVICES ARE CREEPY, AND THEY DON ' T TRUST AMAZON AND GOOGLE NOT TO LISTEN TO THEM? DAG: I WOULD SAY DON ' T BUY THEM, BUT THE REALITY IS ALL THE COMPANIES I HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH TAKE PRIVACY AND SECURITY VERY SERIOUSLY. PEOPLE SAY IS MY ALEXA LISTENING TO ME OR MY HOME POD OR BIXBY -- IT IS LISTENING FOR A WAKE WORD. THAT WORD IS THE THING THAT LETS IT KNOW THAT YOU ARE READY TO TELL IT SOMETHING AND GIVE IT SOME SORT OF COMMAND. THE BIGGER RISK IS YES, THERE IS SECURITY CONCERNS WHEN YOUR WHOLE HOUSE IS FULL OF DEVICES THAT COULD POSSIBLY LISTEN IN. THERE ARE RISKS WITH HACKERS OR SOMEBODY BREAKING IN, BUT IT IS NOT THE COMPANIES THEMSELVES. THERE IS NO BEHIND-THE-SCENES CONSPIRACY TO LISTEN IN ON WHAT EVERYBODY IS DOING. EMILY: FULL OF STORIES, THE CEO

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Siri Co-Founder Says Steve Jobs Was 'Relentless'

Dag Kittlaus, co-founder of Siri and co-founder and chief executive officer of Viv Labs, discusses the purchase of Siri by Apple Inc., Viv Labs' sale to Samsung Electronics, and the future of personal assistant technology with Bloomberg's Emily Chang on "Bloomberg Technology." (Source: Bloomberg)

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