Microsoft is in advanced talks to acquire Nuance Communications, an artificial intelligence firm whose technology has helped develop speech recognition technology Apple’s Siri Virtual Assistant, for as much as $ 16 billion, says a source familiar with the matter Reuters.
According to the source, the transaction price of Nuance will be about $ 56 per share 23% premium compared to the share price Friday. They added that an official announcement could possibly come as early as Monday.
A source who spoke to Bloomberg, who first post news of a potential deal on Sunday, said negotiations were ongoing and warned that it could still fall apart.
While not exactly a household name, Nuance’s AI and speech recognition software is used in a variety of industries, from healthcare to automotive, and has laid the foundation for the technology that drives Apple’s voice assistant.
Neither Microsoft nor Nuance has publicly confirmed these talks, so it’s best to take it with a grain of salt first. However, the two companies are working together a bit of history. In 2019, Microsoft announced a collaboration with Nuance to develop technology that enables physicians to record conversations with their patients during visits and automatically transmit the information in electronic medical records.
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“The Microsoft partnership will accelerate our ability to address key healthcare challenges – together,” said then-Nuance CEO Mark Benjamin. “The environmental technologies we will deliver together can improve productivity and professional satisfaction, enabling physicians to focus on what they do best: caring for patients.”
According to rumors, Microsoft is currently doing some spending. It is reportedly also watching the game-oriented chat platform Onmin for more than $ 10 billion just months after creating the video game company ZeniMax Media. If implemented, this Nuance agreement will be one of Microsoft’s largest acquisitions to date, the second since its acquisition. LinkedIn in 2016 for $ 26.2 billion.