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Leader of Alexa AI jumps ship from Amazon to Google
August 07, 2025
You have to hand it to Google:Amazongot into thesmart speakergame way beforeGoogledid, but Google caught up pretty fast. While neither Google nor Amazon release numbers in regards to how many Home and Echo products the companies sell,estimates in the industryshow Amazon in a clear lead, but Google right behind them and gaining.
That’s why it’s interesting that Ashwin Ram, who was Senior Manager ofAlexa AIat Amazon for about two years,just jumped ship to Google. Mr. Ram is now the Technical Director of AI atGoogle Cloud, according tohis LinkedIn profile.
Google Cloud is not a consumer-facing product like Alexa. It seems that Mr. Ram will have more of a behind-the-scenes role at Google as compared to his role at Amazon.
In a blog post on LinkedIn, Mr. Ram said, “Google arguably has the best AI on the planet; my role will be to help make that AI even better and broadly available to everyone.” He also added, “I’ve had an awesome couple of years at Amazon Alexa working with some of the smartest people I know. Delighted to have had the opportunity to create and lead Alexa Prize and to experience this legendary Day 1 company from the inside.”
Mr. Ram switching companies is just part ofthe ongoing fight between Google and Amazonfor dominance in our homes. Amazon justbought smart home company Ringfor about $1 billion, which came right on the heels of it purchasinganother smart home company called Blink. WithGoogle’s Nestandline of Home products, both companies are working hard to put hardware in every room of your house.
As of right now, the two companies don’t have much competition.Appleshowed up to the smart speaker gameincredibly lateand has no other smart home products on its roster.Samsung’svirtual assistantBixby got off to a very rough startas well, leaving it mostly out of the running. And Microsoft’s Cortanaequally lags behind. Unless things turn around soon, it will come down to Google or Amazon for all your smart home choices.
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