Alexa and Cortana Will Join Forces

Amazon's Alexa won't be alone anymore.

Amazon's Alexa won't be alone anymore. Zapp2Photo/Shutterstock.com

Are two digital assistants better than one?

Tech companies and competitors Amazon and Microsoft have formed an unusual partnership. They plan to connect their voice-controlled digital assistants together, making them the unlikeliest of friends, all to provide more information and capabilities to tech users.

It won't be totally seamless experience, however. Users will have to verbally ask the one digital assistant to grab the other, like, "Alexa, please open Cortana." Once Alexa launches Cortana, users can ask about information on their Windows device, such as the details of Outlook calendar. 

And vice versa. Tech users will have to ask Cortana to open Alexa, which will allow them to control their smart home from a Windows device.

The connection isn't up and running right now, though. Expect the multi-assistant conversations to begin later in 2017.

To learn more, check out the video below from CNET