AI voice technology company SoundHound acquired food ordering platform Allset, a move that attracted widespread attention in the industry. This move extends the application of SoundHound's AI voice technology to the catering field and is expected to completely change people's food ordering experience. As a platform that integrates car, TV and smart device ordering, the integration of Allset's technology and resources will further enhance SoundHound's competitiveness in the smart voice ordering market. After the acquisition, Allset's core team and partnerships with restaurants will be integrated into SoundHound, marking a strategic step for SoundHound in the field of AI-driven smart food ordering.
SoundHound, an AI voice technology company, recently announced the acquisition of food ordering platform Allset, a move that may completely change people's dining experience. Allset bills itself as a complete ecosystem for ordering food through cars, TVs and smart devices. This acquisition means that SoundHound has taken a key step in the field of intelligent voice ordering.
According to a statement from Allset, core employees including founders Stas Mativiyenko and Anna Polischuk will join SoundHound. More importantly, Allset's cooperative relationships with restaurants will also be transferred to SoundHound. These restaurants will have the opportunity to use SoundHound's AI voice products, potentially opening a new era of smart food ordering.
However, behind this acquisition is the entire fast food industry’s rethinking of client-side AI applications. Not long ago, fast food giant McDonald's announced the suspension of its AI automatic order-taking project in cooperation with IBM. The project started in 2021 and aims to use AI technology to automatically process orders in the drive-thru food pickup lane. But McDonald's had to halt the ambitious plans after a series of order errors surfaced on social media.
At the same time, SoundHound is rapidly expanding its business territory. The company not only provides speech recognition and generative AI models for restaurants, but also extends its reach to automotive systems and smart home devices. Last year, SoundHound partnered with fast-food chain White Castle to try using AI voice to process orders in drive-thru food pickup lanes. Additionally, the company has partnered with several well-known car manufacturers such as Stellantis, Hyundai, Kia, and Honda.
SoundHound's ambitions don't stop there. The company has also cooperated with the AI search platform Perplexity to provide support for its AI assistant, demonstrating its determination to deploy AI technology in multiple fields.
Founded in 2015, Allset initially positioned itself as an alternative to delivery apps. This acquisition by SoundHound will undoubtedly bring it broader development space. However, in the face of the setbacks encountered by giants such as McDonald's in AI applications, it remains to be seen whether SoundHound's gamble can succeed.
SoundHound’s acquisition shows its ambitions in the field of AI voice technology, but it also faces tremendous pressure from market competition and technical challenges. In the future, whether SoundHound can successfully integrate Allset resources and ultimately change the way people order food deserves our continued attention.