How did Siri become the world's first mainstream AI assistant - and why did Apple almost not build it?
Siri started as a DARPA-funded military research project before becoming the voice in your pocket.
The answer
Apple launched Siri on October 14, 2011, as a headline feature of the iPhone 4S, making it the first AI-powered virtual assistant available to hundreds of millions of consumers. Siri originated from the largest artificial intelligence project in U.S. history at the time - DARPA's CALO (Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes) project, which involved over 300 researchers from 25 institutions and cost an estimated $150 million over five years. The Siri team spun off as a startup in 2007 and Apple acquired it in April 2010 for a reported $200 million. Siri's launch sparked a voice assistant arms race that led directly to Google Now, Amazon Alexa, and Microsoft Cortana.
Source: Wired
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