Alexa, Rufus, Gemini: This is where AI assistants get their names from

Artificial Intelligence is becoming more and more common and effective these days. Recently, Amazon’s Rufus joined the list of virtual assistants offered by big tech companies.

With names like Rufus, Gemini, and Alexa, it leaves one wondering how the companies come up with these obscure names. Turns out, each has its own story.

How the AI assistants got their names

Google’s Gemini was originally named “Titan”, but the Deepmind team who developed it changed it to Gemini, which you probably recognize as the astrological sign. Gemini is Latin for twins, which in the zodiac indicates a dual personality for its sign. For the AI assistant, it demonstrates the collaboration between the DeepMind and Google Research teams to create the product.

Apple’s Siri was named after a Norwegian colleague of the co-founder of the company that developed it before it was acquired by Apple, Dag Kittlaus. In Norwegian, Siri means “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”. It was a bonus that Kittlaus found it easy to pronounce.

Amazon chose the name Alexa due to its hard consonant with the letter X, which allows it to be recognized more easily when called out. The developers mentioned that the name is reminiscent of the Library of Alexandria, which was used by Amazon Alexa Internet for that same reason.

Amazon’s latest digital assistant, Rufus, has perhaps the cutest story. Rufus was named after the company’s first “office dog”, a Welsch corgi who became a beloved fixture at the office in its early days. Rufus also played a role in the website launches, featuring on its error page.

Rufus passed away in 2009, but his name lives on in the Amazon AI assistant. His legacy also continues on in the Rufus Building at Amazon’s Seattle campus, where the AI assistant was developed.

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