November 23, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] A consortium led by Samsung Catalyst Fund, a startup fund run Samsung Electronics, and US chipmaker NVIDIA will invest US$75 million in artificial intelligence platform startup SoundHound, according to the Korean tech giant on Feb. 2.

Other investors include Global Catalyst Partners, Walden Venture Capital, and Nomura Group.

If the recent moves by Samsung are any indication, the latest investment decision seems relevant to the firm’s plan to incorporate AI-powered solutions into mobile devices and home appliances as well as vehicles.

The Korean firm, which took over US AI developer Viv Labs in October last year, previously said it would have an AI-powered assistant, known as Bixby, featured in the upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone.

In November, the tech giant also announced an US$8-billion acquisition deal of infotainment system developer Harman in November, indicating that it is in the connected car race.

Some market watchers speculate that the investment in SoundHound is aimed at gaining an edge in the autonomous vehicle parts segment.

SoundHound, which runs AI plagorm Houndify, rolled out voice-controlled virtual assistant Hound for iOS and Andorid smartphones in March 2016 to rival Google’s Siri and Amazon’s Echo

“We are at the inflection point of our long-term vision that every product or service needs to have a smart voice-enabled interface, and consumers have increasingly high expectations for this requirement, beyond simple commands or skills,” said SoundHound CEO Keyvan Mohajer in a press release.

Samsung and its sister firms, notably Samsung SDI and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, currently produce a range of vehicle components, such as batteries and in-car displays.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)