WHY AMAZON WILL WIN

ESTIMATED 2017 REVENUE

$173.8 billion

MARKET CAP*

$470 billion

EARLY INTEREST IN AI

Amazon’s recommendation system, introduced in 1998, suggested additional items for purchase based on the observed actions of similar users.

PHILOSOPHY

Any business task or consumer experience that can be automated should be automated.

REVEALING QUOTE

“Much of what we do with machine learning happens beneath the surface . . . quietly but meaningfully improving core operations,” CEO Jeff Bezos wrote in his 2017 shareholder letter.

KEY ACQUISITION

Yap (2011), a cloud-based startup that’s expert at converting speech to text, which reportedly helped lead to Alexa

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT

Last April, Amazon released the technology powering Alexa as a stand-alone service so that any company can develop its own intelligent voice applications.

WHY IT IS AHEAD

Amazon has been the first to showcase the exciting potential of AI in everyday life, from autonomous drone delivery to frictionless retail checkout. And Alexa has been a game changer.