SoundHound AI announced Tuesday (June 18) the acquisition of key assets from Allset, an online food ordering platform, in another step toward further entrenching the voice artificial intelligence company within the restaurant industry.

SoundHound AI Acquires Allset Restaurant Network

The transaction, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, brings almost 7,000 restaurant partners of Allset and engineering talent under the SoundHound umbrella. It also turns up the dial on further accelerating the development of voice ordering solutions for food service on cars, TVs, and other smart devices.

Advancing Voice AI in Food Service

It's an AI-powered speech technology-growing sector. As PYMNTS recently reported, McDonald's ended its partnership with IBM to develop an AI-powered drive-thru system, deciding to pull the tech from more than 100 restaurants. A lot of what the fast-food chain has done underscores that challenges and opportunities are trailing behind the adoption of AI voice-ordering systems at a time when there is a general lack of labor and pressure on the industry for streamlined operations.

Voice AI is seen by SoundHound, which already works with over 10,000 restaurant locations, as a game-changing technology for the food service sector. Its systems allow for customer orders, support multiple languages, and are integrated directly with point-of-sale systems.

Challenges and Opportunities in AI-Powered Ordering

Keyvan Mohajer, CEO and co-founder of SoundHound AI stated in the news release that "combining forces, we will continue to deliver dynamic and convenient ways for people to order food items and complete a vast array of everyday transactions—just by talking naturally."

SoundHound's Vision for Voice-Enabled Transactions

The acquisition comes as restaurants get increasing recourse to technology to streamline operations and cut rising costs. The voice AI systems promise improved efficiency with automated order-taking and freeing of staff for other tasks.

Impact on Restaurant Operations and Costs

Founded in 2015, Allset built its business around providing a platform for local food pickup that allowed restaurants and consumers to bypass exorbitant fees associated with delivery apps. The investment-backed company, with investors like Andreessen Horowitz, will bring its marketplace experience into SoundHound.

Allset's Marketplace Expertise Joins SoundHound

Stas Matviyenko, the co-founder and CEO of Allset, will bring his team to SoundHound. The news release said, "We realized right away that we share the same vision for the voice commerce ecosystem that elevates the consumer experience."

Future Outlook: Voice Commerce in the Restaurant Industry

Such integration of Allset's restaurant relationships with the prowess of SoundHound voice AI could go on to fast-track mainstream adoption in voice ordering across a wide gamut of platforms. That ties well into the bigger picture, too, where tech giants and start-ups are racing to integrate voice assistants in a gamut of everyday consumer interactions.

With voice recognition technology improving day by day, voice commerce is expected to grow manifold in the next few years. SoundHound is increasing its investments in the Allset acquisition—this is one strategic move to help voice commerce grow with such a steep trend and be at the top among competitors in the Voice AI marketplace.

The acquisition of key assets from Allset by SoundHound AI becomes a gigantic step to enhance its capabilities in voice artificial intelligence in restaurants. This strategic acquisition brings almost 7,000 restaurant partners and engineering talent, further benefiting SoundHound on its commitment to changing food service through innovative technology.

Through this integration, Allset's marketplace experience will combine with SoundHound's leading-edge voice AI technology to bring much-needed dynamic enhancements across multiple platforms in customer interaction and operational efficiency. With industries turning toward automation and digital transformation, voice AI systems will help in easily taking orders and offsetting overload operationally during these constrained times of labor.

That development envisaged the broad challenges and potential of AI in restaurant operation optimization. With additional functionality, SoundHound can power such applications with natively seamless, multilingual voice interactions at the point of sale to drive further convenience and customer satisfaction.

Looking forward, given the potential rise of voice recognition technology, SoundHound wants to further grow voice commerce. With this acquisition, the company will be at the forefront of leading and prepared to play a major role in the transformation of consumer engagement with food service providers through smart, intuitive, and voice-controlled solutions.