Microsoft has closed its $16 billion acquisition of Nuance, a speech recognition company that once powered Apple’s Siri.
After its $26 billion purchase of career networking firm LinkedIn in 2016, this is Microsoft’s second-largest acquisition.
Nuance’s widely used medical dictation and transcription capabilities will help Microsoft gain a stronger foothold in hospitals and the healthcare industry.
Microsoft and Nuance would “provide very distinct goods” if they merged, and their individual marketplaces would remain competitive.
Nuance’s CEO, Mark Benjamin, will continue to report to Scott Guthrie, the head of Microsoft’s cloud computing and AI group.
