Amazon and Microsoft agree to let their AI assistants work together

Microsoft and Amazon are allowing their respective assistants to work together. In other words, Cortana and Alexa will be able to communicate with each other. Users will be able to say to their Echo devices, "Alexa, open Cortana.” Or they can say to their Windows 10 devices, "Cortana, open Alexa." Microsoft has integrated Cortana deeply into Windows 10 and apps like Office and Outlook. Meanwhile, Amazon has built an ecosystem around its own and other vendors' speakers. Microsoft is clearly lagging behind Amazon in opening up Cortana to third-party developers. After all, it only made the Cortana Skills Kit preview available in late April. But, later this year, Microsoft users will be able to access Alexa via Cortana on Windows 10 PCs. This will be followed by Android and iOS "in the future.” Amazon said it’s open to working with Apple or Google, too, but nothing has been set yet.