EU regulators to probe Alexa, Siri and other voice assistants

Vestager said the European Commission's interest was prompted by the large amounts of user data involved in consumer 'Internet of Things' devices and it wanted to make sure market players did not use their control of such data to hurt competition or thwart rivals. — Reuters

BRUSSELS: EU competition regulators are seeking information from 400 companies to establish if there are problems in the market for voice assistants such as Alexa and Siri and other Internet-connected devices that could lead to antitrust cases.

The European Commission has opened similar inquiries in the past into sectors such as e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, financial services and energy that led to cases against companies and eventually hefty fines.