Apple, Amazon and Google have formed a rare alliance to improve smart home devices, in an effort to avoid a turf war that limits the market for gadgets powered by Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant.
The Silicon Valley companies, fierce rivals in the market for voice-enabled devices, have agreed to collaborate with each other and members of the Zigbee Alliance, which includes dozens of companies including Samsung, Ikea, and Comcast.
They announced a project to build a common standard so that connected devices could be operated by any voice assistant on Wednesday. “The project is built around a shared belief that smart home devices should be secure, reliable, and seamless to use,” they said.