SoundHound raises US$75m to take on Amazon, Google in voice-enabled AI

New York

SOUNDHOUND Inc, known for its music recognition app, raised US$75 million to compete with the likes of Amazon.com Inc and Google to build artificial intelligence that helps machines understand human voices.

The 12-year-old startup is betting that as more everyday devices get connected to the Internet, using speech to control and direct them will become the dominant form of interaction. The company aims to encourage device makers to use voice AI tools offered by SoundHound rather than try to build their own.