By will-buy
Baidu is dealing with Logitech to produce a voice-enabled mouse included in a long-term partnership using the Chinese tech giant’s AI platform Baidu Brain. This is the first collaboration of its kind between Baidu’s open AI tech and a Western company like Logitech, which has headquarters in California and Switzerland, and comes even as Logitech has shifted away from voice-controlled remote controls.
Mouse Talk
The new Logitech Voice M380 Wireless Mouse includes a microphone along with a button to activate it for people to dictate text in Chinese and half a dozen other languages. The idea would be to place the content on a computer faster than typing, but without the need for another dictation program. The mouse’s AI may even translate the spoken language to English, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, or Thai and presumably to Chinese. The mouse is just available in China, for now, costing 199 yuan or about $20. A button doesn’t use Baidu’s DuerOS platform or Xiaodu voice assistant, instead, it works with the Baidu Brain AI platform, first launched in 2023. That choice makes it much simpler for others like Logitech to include the voice AI and will likely informal other products built with the partnership.
“We had an opportunity to leverage the strength of Baidu AI to bring fast, accurate speech recognition to our customers and also the result is pure magic-a mouse that permits you to instantly start dictating with your voice at the click of a button,” Logitech general manager of the creativity and productivity business group Delphine Donne-Crock said inside a statement. “We're thrilled to make use of Baidu's AI superpower for that launch of Logitech Voice M380, and we anticipate collaborating on future solutions and products that unleash everyone's productivity and creativity in the digital world.”
Baidu Brain
That Logitech is building the voice-enabled mouse and can likely build others in China is notable because of its shift away from voice elsewhere. Logitech pulled its’ Alexa-enabled remote control last summer for only annually available on the market, offering a trade-in to some less voice-focused option. Still, the Chinese marketplace is a really different beast from the U.S. or even Europe. The new mouse will face competition from Baidu rival Xiaomi and it is Mi Smart Mouse, which uses the XiaoAI voice assistant to give indirect voice control of the computer with the mouse’s microphone, even answering questions with info the pc might have readily available and offering smart home device control.
Baidu’s AI jobs are incredibly valuable, since it's Smart Living Group (SLG), which encompasses DuerOS and Xiaodu smart devices, has been worth $2.9 billion even because this fall. Baidu Brain is not a part of SLG but has been incorporated into devices built by many people others within China. Logitech could reap huge dividends in its lindsey stirling, a distinctive one from Baidu’s standpoint.
“Baidu Brain is an AI foundation to bridge hardware and software. It comes from many years of Baidu AI development and deployment and serves not just Baidu innovations, but the entire industry as an open platform,” Baidu vice president for AI development Tian Wu said.”We believe Baidu AI will help Logitech strengthen the leadership in peripherals, change people's lifestyle and method of working, improve efficiency and enable smooth communication for those who have language barriers.”
