At CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Panasonic unveiled its upcoming digital assistant, Umi, which offers families a personalized, AI-powered wellness coach. Created in partnership with Anthropic, Umi uses the Claude AI model to help families “care, coordinate, and connect” with each other, the company said.
More specifically, this involves an AI assistant that focuses on helping families create goals, like spending more time together or being more active, through an interactive interface, which also allows users to voice chat with Umi.
In a demo of Umi during the company’s CES keynote address on Tuesday, Umi was available in a mobile app where families could group chat with the AI, as well as set goals, create routines, manage tasks, and more.
The app could also be useful for caregivers of aging parents who want to keep up with how those older adults in their families are doing, even if they’re not always physically together, Panasonic pointed out. (The company is working with AARP on this aspect of the Umi platform.)
The AI coach, which is due to launch in the U.S. in 2025, will additionally integrate with a community of experts who will help people build healthy habits and create wellness routines. Panasonic is working with other wellness-focused partners including Aaptiv, Precision Nutrition, SleepScore Labs, Addition Wealth, Blue Apron, Calm, and more. These brands, a part of Panasonic Well’s Partner Collective, will be working with Umi and other future Panasonic Well businesses, the company said.
Meanwhile, the partnership between Anthropic and Panasonic not only provides access to the Claude AI for use in Panasonic’s consumer products, it also brings Claude to Panasonic’s workforce. The company said it will integrate Claude as a “strategic asset” with a focus on improving results in areas like customer service, sales, marketing, and coding.
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