Microsoft and Xiaomi to make speakers powered by AI, smartphones and more

Out of the wild, Microsoft and Xiaomi have signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding), so they will work together on AI and hardware.

Both companies can benefit from each other. Xiaomi will have access to Microsoft’s cloud computing products, like Azure, and they can develop devices like laptops, phones and other smart devices and bring them to the international market. On the other hand, Microsoft will get even more reach and recognition on the wast Chinese market. This partnership could result in, among other things, a smart speaker, the Mi AI speaker, with Microsoft’s Cortana built into it. However, this will not be the first Cortana-powered speaker, the Harmon Kardon Invoke was the first speaker built with Cortana. Unfortunately, it did not sell well.

The two giants are also talking about projects which will use Microsoft AI technology, like AI and speech for conversation, Bing, Edge, Skype…

But this is not the first time these companies are working together, no. Back in 2015, Xiami was willing to test Windows 10 on their phones.