Apple Reportedly Acquires Voice Assistant Startup Pullstring

When it comes to the digital assistant space, Siri is clearly behind the likes of Google Assistant and Alexa, both of whom are commanding pretty large market shares, largely thanks to their smart speakers. However it seems that Apple has plans to help improve on Siri with their latest acquisition.

In a report from Axios (via 9to5Mac), it seems that Apple has acquired a company called Pullstring. For those unfamiliar, Pullstring is a voice assistant startup who specializes in designing and publishing voice apps. The company was initially founded back in 2011 where they specialized in creating voice apps for children’s toys, where they later expanded into creating products for Amazon’s Echo and Google Assistant.

Exactly what Apple plans to do with their acquisition remains to be seen, but clearly this will be in aid of boosting Siri’s capabilities and functions. However Apple has been known for purchasing companies and then integrating their products or services into their own products, like when they acquired Workflow and turned it into Siri Shortcuts, or when they acquired Beats Music and turned it into Apple Music.

Neither Apple nor Pullstring have confirmed the acquisition and it was not mentioned how much it cost, but it is said to have been acquired at a relatively low cost.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, General
Tags: Siri