SAN FRANCISCO, July 22 (Reuters) - Amazon ( AMZN ) has

reached a deal to buy San Francisco-based Bee, a startup making

an artificial intelligence-enabled bracelet to listen in on and

transcribe conversations.

Bee's $50 wristband can analyze and distill what it records

to make summaries, to-do lists or other tasks. Amazon ( AMZN ) confirmed

the deal on Tuesday following a post on LinkedIn by Bee CEO and

co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo.

The deal has not yet closed and Amazon ( AMZN ) declined to provide

terms. A spokesperson said Amazon ( AMZN ) will work with Bee to give

users more control over the devices, which are set to

automatically transcribe audio but can be muted.

"We imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your

life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with

you," said Zollo in her post. She did not immediately respond to

a query on Tuesday.

It was not Amazon's ( AMZN ) first foray into wearables. The Seattle

online retailer marketed a line of wrist health trackers called

Halo but ultimately killed the project in 2023. It also has a

line of smart glasses embedded with Amazon's ( AMZN ) virtual assistant,

Alexa, under its Echo brand.

ChatGPT parent OpenAI bought former Apple designer Jony

Ive's AI device startup called io for about $6.5 billion. Other

startups have made early attempts at AI wearables, with mixed

results.

In her post, Zollo thanked Amazon ( AMZN ) devices executive Panos

Panay, suggesting Bee would join his group when the deal closes.

Much of Amazon's ( AMZN ) AI development is being conducted in its Amazon

Web Services unit.

Bee was founded in 2022.