Expedia, Yelp, Angi, and Square are building agentic artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for Amazon’s Alexa+.By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions .Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.The new integrations are set to debut on the virtua ...

Core Insights - Europe has a significant opportunity to become a key player in agentic artificial intelligence (AI) within the healthcare sector, as forecasted by industry leaders [1][2] - The market for generative AI (genAI) and large language models (LLMs) is currently dominated by US and Asian companies, but Europe can still establish a niche in agentic AI [2][4] - Agentic AI focuses on autonomous decision-making and performing physical tasks, differentiating it from genAI, which primarily supports healthcare practitioners with information [4] Market Dynamics - The global application of AI in healthcare is projected to reach a valuation of $19 billion by 2027, indicating rapid growth in this sector [5] - A McKinsey study found that 85% of healthcare respondents are utilizing genAI in some capacity, highlighting its widespread adoption [5] - Agentic AI is still in a developmental phase, with potential to enhance 70%-80% of workflows in the medtech industry and 75%-85% in the pharmaceutical sector [6] Company Insights - Oversonic Robotics, co-founded by Paolo Denti, is focusing on agentic AI with its flagship product, RoBee, designed to address staffing shortages in healthcare settings [6]

Core Insights - The report by S&P Global highlights that 58% of enterprises are actively pursuing agent capabilities, indicating a significant shift towards agentic AI in enterprise technology strategies [3][4][7] - Agentic AI represents a transition from traditional chat-based interactions to autonomous systems that can initiate actions independently, leading to increased infrastructure demands and new security considerations [2][7] Infrastructure Strain - Agentic systems require significantly more IT capacity than chat-based systems, as they can launch multiple prompts and cascade into other agents without human intervention [7] - The demand for Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) is projected to increase by over 500% from original 2023 estimates for the 2025-2026 timeframe due to this shift [3] Data Management Evolution - The implementation of agentic AI necessitates a more sophisticated approach to data management, including enhanced data provenance, quality assessment, and context engineering [7] Security Complexities - New non-human identity frameworks are required for agentic systems, moving beyond traditional user authorization policies to address the complexities introduced by autonomous agents [7] Sustainability Concerns - The resource-intensive nature of agentic operations is expected to drive increased demand for AI-related data centers, raising sustainability challenges [7]

Core Insights - SoundHound AI's acquisition of Interactions signifies a pivotal shift from a niche voice AI company to a leader in agentic artificial intelligence, enhancing its capabilities in customer service and workflow orchestration [1][3] - The deal strengthens SoundHound's technology stack by integrating its speech recognition and conversational AI platforms with Interactions' omnichannel systems, facilitating a transition from human-assisted to fully autonomous AI operations [2][3] - This strategic move positions SoundHound at the forefront of the rapidly growing agentic AI market, enabling it to deliver comprehensive automation solutions across various interfaces [3][4] Company Performance - SoundHound shares have increased by 69.3% over the past three months, significantly outperforming the Zacks Computers - IT Services industry, which saw a decline of 5.4% [7] - The stock has also outperformed the broader Computer and Technology sector and the S&P 500 [7] Financial Metrics - The acquisition adds substantial intellectual property, increasing the combined patent portfolio to nearly 400, and enhances financial flexibility with over $270 million in cash and no debt [2][9] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SOUN's 2025 loss per share remains unchanged at 13 cents, indicating an improvement from the previous year's loss of $1.04 per share [10] - Year-over-year growth estimates for earnings show significant improvement, with projections of 33.33% for the current quarter and 98.55% for the next quarter [11] Competitive Landscape - As SoundHound strengthens its position, competitors like C3.ai and Palantir Technologies are also evolving in the agentic AI space, with C3.ai focusing on industrial applications and Palantir on autonomous decision-making systems [4][6] - SoundHound's acquisition-driven strategy places it closer to achieving end-to-end agentic AI capabilities, unlike its competitors who lack the same level of conversational and multimodal integration [5][6]

Core Insights - The focus in artificial intelligence has shifted from general AI to agentic AI, highlighting both opportunities and challenges in the sector [1] Group 1: LinkedIn's Developments - LinkedIn has developed a comprehensive agentic AI platform that integrates agents into its cloud-native architecture, featuring an "agent life-cycle service" for coordination [3] - The upgraded Hiring Assistant allows recruiters to filter candidates using natural language while maintaining human oversight, emphasizing the need for compliance and reliability [4] Group 2: Booking.com Initiatives - Booking Holdings is creating an agentic AI platform aimed at enhancing travel experiences, enabling actions like booking services while keeping users within its ecosystem [5] - The strategy focuses on building trust and reducing customer service costs, with features like natural language search improving customer satisfaction and reducing cancellations [6] Group 3: Parallel Agents - The concept of parallel agents allows agentic AI to divide large tasks into smaller, independent ones that can be executed simultaneously, improving processing efficiency [7] Group 4: OpenAI's Innovations - OpenAI has launched its GPT-Realtime model, which enhances AI-powered voice agents by processing audio in a single step, improving responsiveness and conversational quality [9] Group 5: Nvidia's Networking Solutions - Nvidia emphasizes that data movement is a bottleneck in AI performance and has introduced new networking technology to enhance data transfer speeds, improving the efficiency of agentic AI systems [10] Group 6: Investment Opportunities - SoFi has launched the SoFi Agentic AI ETF, tracking 30 U.S.-listed companies involved in agentic AI, providing investors with a straightforward entry point into this emerging sector [11] Group 7: Financial Sector Innovations - FinQore has integrated Anthropic's Claude into its financial data platform, enabling CFOs to access real-time, validated data, enhancing trust in AI-driven financial insights [12] Group 8: Visa's Agentic Commerce - Visa is developing tools to integrate agentic AI into digital commerce, aiming to make transactions as seamless and trusted as traditional card payments [13][14] - The introduction of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and Acceptance Agent Toolkit is designed to streamline agentic commerce and enhance merchant capabilities [14][15] Group 9: CarEdge's Consumer Advocacy - CarEdge is leveraging agentic AI to empower consumers in the auto-buying process, allowing AI agents to negotiate directly with dealerships on behalf of buyers [16][17] - The potential for AI-led negotiations could extend to other high-value retail sectors, indicating a shift in traditional sales dynamics [18][19]

AI Training & Adoption - Accenture is training its 700 thousand+ staff in agentic AI [1] - The training aims to meet client demand in the AI area [1]

Core Insights - AIBotics is negotiating a pilot program with a leading China-based company in commercial service robots, focusing on human interaction and collaboration with other robots [1] - The company aims to position itself as a leader in agentic artificial intelligence, which represents a significant shift in AI capabilities [2][5] Company Progress and Strategy - AIBotics has focused on building a strong foundation in 2025 despite uncertain market conditions, aiming to become a leader in personal robotics and intelligent automation [3] - The flagship product, PHILL, a consumer wellness robot, is gaining traction as the company improves logistics and distribution to enhance market access [4] - AIBotics is committed to developing agentic AI, which allows systems to make independent decisions and manage complex tasks without human intervention [5] Partnerships and Development - A strategic partnership with UI Converge has been established to co-develop an autonomous operating platform for the next generation of robots and AI assistants [6] - The launch of a new intelligent assistant platform has been rescheduled to Q4 2025, marking a transition from a hardware-first to an intelligence-first company [7] Research and Acquisition Focus - The company is actively exploring acquisition targets to enhance capabilities in agentic AI, edge computing, and multi-modal interaction [8] - AIBotics is investing heavily in R&D to embed intelligent autonomy into its products, ensuring accessibility and impact [9] - The decision has been made not to proceed with the acquisition of DigiTrax Entertainment Inc., allowing the company to concentrate on robotics and AI solutions [10] Market Opportunity - The global AI market is projected to reach $244.22 billion in 2025, with a CAGR of 26.60%, expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2031, driven by agentic AI [11] Key Initiatives for H2 2025 - Finalizing the co-development framework with UI Converge for a human-centric agentic operating platform [14] - Expanding logistics and e-commerce infrastructure to support broader distribution of PHILL in North America and Asia [14] - Accelerating R&D of the intelligent assistant platform ahead of its planned launch [14] - Identifying strategic acquisition targets in AI, robotics, and interface technologies [14] - Advancing internal agentic AI frameworks for real-world testing across various environments [14]

Core Insights - Allianz Life experienced a data breach affecting the personal data of most of its U.S. customers, with a total of 1.4 million customers in North America impacted [2][3] Group 1: Incident Details - A "malicious threat actor" accessed a third-party, cloud-based system used by Allianz, obtaining personally identifiable data [2] - The company took immediate action to contain the issue and notified the FBI, stating there was no evidence that the hacker accessed its own network [3] Group 2: Industry Context - Data breaches involving third parties are increasingly common, with Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report indicating that 30% of breaches in the year ending October 31, 2024, involved third parties, up from 15% the previous year [4] - The report highlights that the role of software vendors has evolved, leading to a more widespread problem that can have devastating effects on enterprises [5] Group 3: Cybersecurity Implications - Companies must consider the security limitations of third parties alongside their own when engaging in partnerships [6] - The emergence of agentic AI systems for cybersecurity introduces new governance and compliance challenges, raising questions about responsibility in case of errors or failures [7]

Core Insights - SoundHound AI, Inc. (SOUN) is establishing a significant presence in the healthcare sector with its voice-enabled agentic AI platform, highlighted by recent contract renewals with three prominent healthcare organizations in Q1 2025 [1][9] - The launch of Amelia 7.0, an advanced AI platform, allows for autonomous task execution, enhancing operational efficiency in healthcare through voice interactions [2][9] - The enterprise segment of SoundHound has shown remarkable growth, with a fivefold increase in ticket volume and reduced resolution times due to automation [3][9] Company Developments - SoundHound's Amelia 7.0 AI agents can perform various tasks such as scheduling, billing, and prescription reorders, facilitating seamless patient interactions [2][9] - The company is well-positioned to expand its healthcare footprint as organizations seek to modernize engagement and streamline workflows using voice AI [4] Market Competition - Competition in the voice-powered AI solutions market is intensifying, particularly from major players like Microsoft and Amazon, who are also advancing their agentic AI capabilities [5][6][7] - Microsoft leverages its Azure OpenAI and Nuance Communications to strengthen its position in healthcare voice automation, while Amazon's Alexa Auto competes by integrating with its consumer ecosystem [6][7] Financial Performance - SoundHound's stock has appreciated by 44.5% over the past three months, significantly outperforming the industry average growth of 9.5% [8] - The company's current valuation reflects a premium compared to industry peers, with a forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 24.05X [10]

Group 1 - Amazon has established a new team within its consumer product-development division focused on agentic artificial intelligence [1] - The new group will develop an agentic AI framework for robotics operations, enabling robots to understand and act on natural language commands [2] - Amazon's AI lab previously released a web browser-based agent and its cloud unit has also created an agentic AI group [3] Group 2 - The agentic AI capabilities are expected to enhance Amazon's Alexa+ voice assistant, which was updated in March [3] - There is a growing trend among companies to develop AI agents that can perform complex, multistep actions beyond simple text and image generation [2]