Microsoft to purchase Nuance, the AI giant that helped create Apple's Siri, for $19.7 billion

Updated April 12, 2022: Microsoft officially announced an understanding to purchase Nuance for $19.7. This deal was suspected leading up to the official announcemment but has at present been confirmed by Microsoft. The commodity has been updated accordingly. The post has also been updated to reflect that the deal includes Nuance'southward debts.

Microsoft officially appear an understanding to purchase Nuance Communications Inc., an artificial intelligence and speech technology company. Before the official announcement, reports about the discussions between Microsoft and Nuance were reported by Bloomberg. The deal is worth $19.vii billion, making it one of Microsoft'due south largest acquisitions e'er.

Nuance worked on the tech that powers the voice aspect of Apple tree's Siri banana and makes the well-known Dragon speech-recognition software. Microsoft has as well worked with Dash since 2022. Microsoft'south collaboration with Nuance includes utilizing AI to help doctors capture and record medical data from patients.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says of Nuance,

Nuance provides the AI layer at the healthcare signal of delivery and is a pioneer in the real-world awarding of enterprise AI. AI is technology's most of import priority, and healthcare is its most urgent application. Together, with our partner ecosystem, we volition put advanced AI solutions into the hands of professionals everywhere to bulldoze meliorate controlling and create more meaningful connections, every bit we accelerate growth of Microsoft Deject for Healthcare and Dash.

The bargain values Dash at $56 per share, which implies a 23% premium to the closing price of Nuance from Fri, April 9. The full value of the bargain is higher than the suspected value of $sixteen billion before official news almost the agreement was announced. The verbal value of the bargain appears to exist a combination of Nuance'due south value and its debts, which probable explains the discrepenancy betwixt the predicted $16 billion figure and the final $nineteen.7 billion figure.

The deal falls short of Microsoft's purchase of LinkedIn for $26.two billion but is still be one of Microsoft's largest acquisitions ever.

Microsoft has a Tech Center adjacent to Nuance'southward headquarters in Massachusetts, and then Microsoft is shut to Nuance in both technological goals and physical proximity.

Microsoft literally has a edifice hither (Tech Middle) in MA adjacent to Dash, so not as well surprising that the companies have become so close that an acquistion would happen. https://t.co/4yCHNKwdBz
— Daniel Rubino (@Daniel_Rubino) April eleven, 2022

A CNBC report states that Microsoft first approached Dash in December.

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