SoundHound founder and CEO Keyvan Mohajer has announced a partnership with Hyundai. This partnership will bring his company’s unique AI voice recognition to automobiles.
The new Hyundai Venue SUV – now debuting in India – will come equipped with voice-recognition and smart-connectivity through Houndify, SoundHound’s voice recognition platform.
“Our mission to Houndify everything continues to expand globally as we deliver a robust, conversational and personalized in-car voice experience for Hyundai drivers,” says Mohajer.
Keyvan Mohajer Protects Your Data
As voice recognition and A.I. technologies grow in popularity, ethical concerns have arisen in parallel. Specifically, many worry about privacy in the age of Siri and Alexa. AI like these can give tech giants like Apple and Amazon access to intimate aspects of people’s lives. But Mohajer doesn’t want people’s private data – or to force them to log into his system.
“We don’t have an agenda to hijack your product,” he explains, citing his company’s minimal demands on corporate partners. “If you use Amazon, you lose your brand, your users. You have to ask your user to log into their Amazon account. They have to call on Alexa, and all the data belong to them.”
SoundHound does not own the data or force log-ins when customers use voice-enabled devices and apps. Instead, SoundHound’s platform sets itself apart from AI assistants offered by big tech. This happens via what Mohajer calls “speech to meaning” instead of “speech to text.” In other words, Mohajer believes his company offers a more advanced interactive conversation and a more responsive virtual assistant than the competition.
SoundHound’s A.I. Offers New Speed and Control
“Show me hotels in Seattle for Friday, staying one night,” Mohajer demonstrates, speaking into his iPhone. The results pop up in seconds.
“Now show only the ones less than $300,” he continues. With more and more parameters, the results get smaller and smaller.
“Show only the ones that have three or four or five stars that are pet friendly, that have a gym and a pool, within 4.5 miles of the Space Needle.” Then, the apps spits back the results in less than a second.
Then Mohajer asks, “What if I check in on Thursday, and stay for two nights?” and the app immediately resets the page with his new parameters.
This speed and quality enticed Samsung to partner with SoundHound. With this technology, Samsung can integrate the platform on all of its new internet-capable devices, part of the Korean company’s $1.2 billion in the United States.
Keyvan Mohajer Looks to Expand
Mohajer believes that SoundHound fills an important role as an independent voice platform.
“When you watch Star Wars and Star Trek, and people talk to computers – to me it was obvious that that will happen,” he says. Many tech giants like Apple, Amazon, and Google have their own voice recognition systems. But Mohajer is more interested in providing an independent platform that can expand.
This expansion means many things, but one in particular sets SoundHound apart – accent recognition. Mohajer’s international vision requires his A.I. to recognize and learn a wide range of accents and speech patterns, for use in many different locations.
For American drivers who want a taste of SoundHound in their car, the voice-enabled Hyundai Venue is set to arrive in the US later this fall.
