Kitt.ai

Kitt.ai operated as a specialized technology firm focused on simplifying natural language understanding (NLU) for developers. The company was established in 2014, originating from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a Seattle-based research institute backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Its founders, Xuchen Yao, Guoguo Chen, and Kenji Sagae, were all recognized experts in natural language processing and deep learning. Chen was instrumental in creating the "OK Google" hotword detection prototype for Android, while Sagae was a former professor of Natural Language Processing at USC. Yao, a Johns Hopkins PhD graduate, served as the company's CEO.

The firm developed a suite of products aimed at the developer community, including Snowboy, a customizable hotword detection engine, and ChatFlow, a multi-turn conversational engine. Snowboy distinguished itself by allowing developers to create their own unique wake words, similar to "Alexa" or "OK Google," for their applications. A key feature of this technology was its ability to run offline on embedded devices like the Raspberry Pi, ensuring user privacy by not streaming voice data to the cloud. ChatFlow provided a platform for building more complex, interactive conversational agents. These technologies were utilized globally in a variety of applications, from smartphone apps and smart speakers to automobiles and appliances. The business model involved providing its software development kits (SDKs) for free, with plans to monetize by charging enterprise customers for products developed on the platform.

By 2017, Kitt.ai had attracted over 12,000 developers to its Snowboy platform and was profitable, with paying customers across four continents. The company's potential and technology drew significant attention, securing investments from Amazon's Alexa Fund, Founders' Co-op, and Madrona Venture Group. In July 2017, the Chinese search engine giant Baidu acquired Kitt.ai. The acquisition was framed as a strategic move to provide Kitt.ai's team with greater resources to advance their mission, while allowing them to operate independently in Seattle. The deal was intended to help Baidu accelerate the development of its own voice-first platforms by integrating Kitt.ai's established tools and onboarding its developer community. Keywords: natural language understanding, hotword detection, conversational AI, speech recognition, Snowboy, ChatFlow, embedded AI, voice activation, developer tools, semantic parsing, offline voice processing, wake word, Baidu acquisition, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Xuchen Yao, Guoguo Chen, Kenji Sagae, conversational engine, chatbot development, voice-enabled applications, machine learning, AI platform, voice interface