Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, cofounders of Siri, which was bought by Apple in 2010, claim their new AI bot goes beyond what's currently out there in terms of virtual assistants.
Someone can use Viv, for example, to order a pizza without having to dial a phone number, open a webpage, or download a smartphone app.
"It's about taking the way that humans have naturally interacted with each other for thousands of years and applying that to the way they interact with services," Kittlaus, Viv's chief executive, told the Post. "Everyone knows how to hold a conversation."
Viv Labs has formed partnerships with approximately 50 outside companies, including GrubHub, Uber, Zocdoc, and SeatGuru, to let its virtual assistant tap into their services.
Google and Facebook have both made offers to buy Viv, according to the Post's sources, who claim to be familiar with the matter.
Unlike other AI chatbots, such as Microsoft's Cortana and Facebook's "M," Viv has been designed so that it can be used by more than one company in everything from cars and TVs to smartphones and other connected devices.
Viv will be publicly demonstrated for the first time at a conference on Monday, according to The Washington Post.