Microsoft Makes Cortana A Supplement To Other 'Assistants', Not Anymore A Competitor

The advancing technology has shifted interaction from typing to gesture and voice. And when it comes to the latter, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are on top of the list.

Microsoft also has its own virtual assistant it calls Cortana. Launched in 2014, it was one of the main ingredients of Microsoft's planned "makeover" of the future operating systems for Windows Phone and Windows.

But apparently, it didn't work out as planned.

CEO Satya Nadella is a pragmatist. Unlike previous Microsoft CEOs, he doesn't consider idealism as the way to go, and chooses practicality instead.

This is why Microsoft becomes more open to other operating systems, including to Android and archenemy Linux. And when it comes to product distribution, he is less hostile to the open-source community, and sees others' product in the competition as part of Microsoft's journey.

Here, Nadella is doing the same thing with Cortana.

Microsoft’s digital assistant Cortana was once a direct competitor to Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri. However, things didn't work out well for Cortana, as the assistant has fallen far behind. According to Nadella, he no more sees Cortana as their competitor.

Nadella has been pursuing partnership with Amazon for assistant interoperability, knowing that Amazon's interest is aligned with Microsoft’s, as the two want access to other's audience.

Amazon has more than 100 million Alexa devices. Here, the company founded by Jeff Bezos is pursuing an “Alexa everywhere strategy”. Microsoft on the other hand, has more than 500 million monthly active Windows 10 users, and wants more exposure for Cortana.

The partnership between the two, could expand both's reach.

Cortana - Alexa

Nadella once said:

"The personality and expertise of each (personal assistant) will be such that if they interoperated, the user will get more out of it. That resonated for me and for him, and then that’s what led to the teams working."

Nadella also that said he wanted to sort similar relationship with Google and Apple as well, but things didn't work out.

As for Google, the company said that its Assistant is available on more than a billion devices. And Apple has more than 500 million active users around the world. For their part, Google and Apple are likely to be less inclined to do a deeper integration than what is already available: Cortana apps for both iOS and Android.

These two companies see lesser benefits in providing deeper integration for Cortana.

Conclusion

Regardless of which company has more reach and usage, virtual assistants are becoming cross-platform UI, from smartphones to smart speakers, smart TVs to other smart IoT appliances and in-car infotainment.

Microsoft Cortana was named after the synthetic intelligence character in Microsoft's Halo video game franchise. While it has some unique quirks on its own, Cortana is still an underdog.

With Nadella seeing Cortana as not a competitor to others, Microsoft aims to make the assistant a supplement to the existing.

"Cortana needs to be that skill for anybody who's a Microsoft 365 subscriber," explained Nadella. "You should be able to use it on Google Assistant, you should be able to use it on Alexa, just like how you use our apps on Android and iOS so that’s at least how we want to think about where it’ll go."

The CEO also admitted that instead of competing with Alexa, there was a challenge of creating hardware and software that is unique to compete. Microsoft chose to make Cortana "a valuable skill that somebody who is using Alexa can call", instead of competing in smart speakers.

Published: 
23/01/2019