At CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Panasonic announced Umi, its next digital assistant that provides families with a personalized AI-powered wellness coach. Created in partnership with Anthropic, Umi uses Claude AI models to help families “care for, coordinate, and connect” with each other, the company says.
More specifically, this includes an AI assistant focused on helping families set goals, such as spending more time together or being more active, through an interactive interface. Users can also voice chat with Umi.
In a demo of Umi at the company's CES keynote on Tuesday, Umi is now available as a mobile app that allows families to group chat with an AI, as well as set goals, create routines, manage tasks, and more.
Panasonic noted that the app could also be useful for caregivers of elderly parents who want to keep track of their elderly family members, even if they are not physically with them all the time. (The company is working with AARP on this aspect of the Umi platform.)
Scheduled to launch in the US in 2025, AI Coach will be further integrated with a community of experts who help people build healthy habits and create wellness routines. Panasonic is collaborating with other wellness-focused partners including Aaptiv, Precision Nutrition, SleepScore Labs, Addition Wealth, BlueApron, and Calm. The brands, which are part of Panasonic Well's Partner Collective, will collaborate with Umi and other future Panasonic Well businesses, the company said.
Meanwhile, Anthropic's partnership with Panasonic not only provides access to Claude AI for use in Panasonic's consumer products, but also brings Claude into the Panasonic workforce. The company said it would integrate Claude as a “strategic asset” focused on improving performance in areas such as customer service, sales, marketing and coding.