Shares of AI voice recognition developer SoundHound AI (SOUN) surged more than 22% in Wednesday’s trading session after the company announced a partnership with Stellantis (STLA) for the European automotive sector.
Keyvan Mohajer, co-founder and CEO of SoundHound AI, appears on Market Domination to discuss the advancements in AI chatbot models in automotive and how they could easily enable transactions and in-car environments for consumer convenience in the future.
“For years, consumers have accepted that digital assistants in their cars and devices have limitations. But by seamlessly integrating generative AI into the assistant, consumers can ask it anything,” Mohajer told Yahoo Finance. “And they ran the pilot, and the numbers speak for themselves: usage has increased multifold, loyalty has increased multifold. Users want it, and they’re extending it across their brands.”
Mohajer goes into more detail about the capabilities of SoundHound’s generative AI digital assistant.
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This post Luke Carberry Morgan.
Video Transcript
Sound How AI shares are soaring after the company announced the expansion of its voice-assisted products and the NVIDIA-backed company launched Sound How Chat AI with select automotive brands across Europe.
Joining us to discuss the technology is Kvo Moha, co-founder and CEO of Soundhound AI.
Nice to meet you, KVO.
Well, first off, can you tell me what this announcement means, which cars are these, and how does this work if I drive one of these cars?
wonderful.
Thank you for coming back.
I’m glad I came here.
Well, we’re very proud to announce that in collaboration with Tant, we’re launching our San Chat AI voice assistant across several brands, including Peo, in 17 new markets and in 12 languages.
Well, let me tell you a bit more about what it is and why it’s important.
So for years, consumers have accepted that digital assistance in their cars and devices is limited to things like setting a timer or dialing numbers for navigation.
But by seamlessly integrating generative AI into assistance, consumers can ask questions about anything and have endless conversations about it.
Yeah, and they ran a pilot and the numbers speak for themselves: usage is up, multi-fold loyalty is up, multi-fold want users, and they’re expanding it across their brands and KVOs.
Well, I know the investors listening right now.
Their question will be, what are your thoughts on this?
absolutely.
That’s a great question.
In our last earnings call, we announced that San Cha is an upsell feature for both our customers and their customers.
So once we had a basic assistant that ran the functions of the car, we spent almost 20 years working on it.
We carry 20 brands.
Yeah, we already provide that for a lot of factors.
Also, if you want to upgrade to chat AI, it will cost you an additional royalty.
Therefore, the adoption of AI will have a positive impact on our revenue.
So can you talk now about how you expect putting this product in more vehicles will impact your bottom line?
How do you guys model that?
Looking back over the last four years, we have seen healthy growth of around 50% on average, with revenue growth exceeding 50% year-over-year.
Well, we’re sticking with that goal this year and we’re also announcing that we’ll surpass $100 million in revenue next year.
Um, this is from the last earnings.
Um, well, the next step after putting AI into cars, car navigation chat AI, is monetization.
So now you have an assistant you can have endless conversations with, ask any question, get answers, and get things done for you.
Next, you will be asked to make a transaction.
Well, imagine if you could order food while driving and before you even get to the drive-thru, you could order in your car and your food would be ready for you.
Once it arrives, it will be delivered to your home.
It allows for reservations, appointment booking, voice commerce, and we’re building that, and ultimately it will drive revenue and we’ll share that revenue with the automakers.
Yes, so that our products can be a source of income for them.
Cavan.
What’s interesting is, you were talking earlier about Apple and Siri’s new AI integration, and I wonder if that makes what you were talking about obsolete?
For example, if you have an iPhone, and you’re in your car, and you can talk to your iPhone, surely you can do all of the things you’re describing?
Not at all.
Well, Apple provides their own technology in their products.
Well, we are focusing on two verticals: one is visual assistance for physical products and IT devices like cars and TVs, and customer service through AI.
And we don’t see the big tech companies involved there.
Well, because of the consolidation that we’ve done, we don’t anticipate a lot of consolidation volume either.
It took 10-20 years to build out all the features of the car integration map for how the car functions, how the car is controlled, and how it connects with the service providers that the car manufacturer wants to offer to the user.
Well, the two aren’t really in competition with each other.
We are the default assistant in your car.
So when you get in the car, you press a button or say wakeboard and our assistance is called in, and we don’t see a problem with that.
Another thing I want to mention is that we are integrating native AI very quickly, and I believe you are the fastest to implement digital assistance within a few months.
Well, it took Apple and others over a year to make it happen, and they’ve only just announced it.
Yes, we are doing live streams with our products and the way we do it is incredible.
Yeah, when you inquire about the domains that we offer and the ones that you might have to give to JG BT, it’s very seamless.
Users don’t need to know where the answer comes from.
Um, and those can come and go, Con, you mentioned, um, your other business, the drive-thru business.
In other words, it means interpreting the software.
Uh, when I talk to the box, when I place that order, Kevin, I’m just curious how you see that driver evolving and changing through the business, because when I talk to the financial analysts that cover your company about KVO, they get excited about it.
At least some of them really think that there is something about this business that has great potential, that is, there is something that is easily identifiable as being certain.
right.
Well, one of the challenges for me is, three years from now, when you go to a driver, will you be talking to a human or will it be automated?
And the answer to me is, obviously, it’s going to be automated.
When was the last time you spoke with a driver and had such a great experience that you felt compelled to write a Yelp review?
So it’s something that’s automated.
The technology is ready.
It has already been introduced to several brands and has received positive feedback from many of them.
The restaurant employees love the drive and really enjoy it.
Oh, I’m calling the doctor now.
So it’s just a matter of time.
no.
I’m always grateful for you appearing on the show.
Thank you for making time for us.
thanks so much.
