<s>
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
chatbot	B-Application
available	O
on	O
AOL	B-Protocol
Instant	I-Protocol
Messenger	I-Protocol
and	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Live	I-Protocol
Messenger	I-Protocol
(	O
previously	O
MSN	B-Protocol
Messenger	I-Protocol
)	O
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
was	O
an	O
intelligent	O
agent	O
or	O
"	O
bot	O
"	O
developed	O
by	O
ActiveBuddy	B-Protocol
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
with	O
offices	O
in	O
New	O
York	O
and	O
Sunnyvale	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
widely	O
distributed	O
across	O
global	O
instant	O
messaging	B-Protocol
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
became	O
very	O
popular	O
,	O
attracting	O
over	O
30	O
million	O
Instant	O
Messenger	O
"	O
buddies	O
"	O
on	O
AIM	B-Protocol
(	O
AOL	O
)	O
and	O
MSN	B-Protocol
and	O
Yahoo	O
Messenger	O
over	O
the	O
course	O
of	O
its	O
lifetime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Founded	O
in	O
2000	O
,	O
ActiveBuddy	B-Protocol
was	O
the	O
brainchild	O
of	O
Robert	O
Hoffer	O
and	O
Timothy	O
Kay	O
,	O
who	O
later	O
brought	O
seasoned	O
advertising	O
executive	O
Peter	O
Levitan	O
on	O
board	O
as	O
CEO	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
concept	O
for	O
conversational	O
instant	O
messaging	B-Protocol
bots	O
came	O
from	O
the	O
founder	O
's	O
vision	O
to	O
add	O
natural	O
language	O
comprehension	O
functionality	O
to	O
the	O
increasingly	O
popular	O
AIM	B-Protocol
instant	O
messaging	B-Protocol
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
implementation	O
took	O
shape	O
as	O
a	O
demo	O
that	O
Kay	O
programmed	O
in	O
Perl	B-Language
in	O
his	O
Los	O
Altos	O
garage	O
to	O
connect	O
a	O
single	O
buddy	O
name	O
,	O
"	O
ActiveBuddy	B-Protocol
"	O
,	O
to	O
look	O
up	O
stock	O
symbols	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
allow	O
AIM	B-Protocol
users	O
to	O
play	O
Colossal	B-Application
Cave	I-Application
Adventure	I-Application
,	O
a	O
famous	O
word-based	O
adventure	B-Application
game	O
,	O
and	O
MIT	O
's	O
Boris	O
Katz	O
Start	O
Question	O
Answering	O
System	O
but	O
quickly	O
grew	O
to	O
include	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
database	O
applications	O
the	O
company	O
called	O
'	O
knowledge	O
domains	O
 '	O
including	O
instant	O
access	O
to	O
news	O
,	O
weather	O
,	O
stock	O
information	O
,	O
movie	O
times	O
,	O
yellow	O
pages	O
listings	O
,	O
and	O
detailed	O
sports	O
data	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
tools	O
(	O
personal	O
assistant	O
,	O
calculators	O
,	O
translator	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
suggested	O
using	O
“	O
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
”	O
,	O
a	O
username	O
coined	O
by	O
Tim	O
Kay	O
which	O
Tim	O
was	O
using	O
to	O
test	O
various	O
things	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bundled	O
domains	O
were	O
launched	O
publicly	O
as	O
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
(	O
on	O
AIM	B-Protocol
initially	O
)	O
in	O
June	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
provided	O
information	O
wrapped	O
in	O
fun	O
and	O
quirky	O
conversation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
generated	O
no	O
revenue	O
from	O
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
,	O
but	O
used	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
demonstration	O
of	O
the	O
power	O
of	O
what	O
Klein	O
called	O
“	O
conversational	O
computing	O
”	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
's	O
popularity	O
spawned	O
targeted	O
marketing-oriented	O
bots	O
for	O
Radiohead	O
,	O
Austin	O
Powers	O
,	O
Intel	O
,	O
Keebler	O
,	O
The	O
Sporting	O
News	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveBuddy	B-Protocol
co-founders	O
,	O
Kay	O
and	O
Hoffer	O
,	O
as	O
co-inventors	O
,	O
were	O
issued	O
2	O
controversial	O
U.S.	O
patents	O
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ActiveBuddy	B-Protocol
changed	O
its	O
name	O
to	O
Colloquis	B-Protocol
(	O
briefly	O
Conversagent	O
)	O
and	O
targeted	O
development	O
of	O
consumer-facing	O
enterprise	O
customer	O
service	O
agents	O
,	O
which	O
the	O
company	O
marketed	O
as	O
Automated	O
Service	O
Agents(tm )	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
acquired	O
Colloquis	B-Protocol
in	O
2007	O
and	O
proceeded	O
to	O
de-commission	O
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
and	O
kill	O
off	O
the	O
Automated	O
Service	O
Agent	O
business	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
many	O
ways	O
,	O
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
precursor	O
to	O
Apple	O
's	O
Siri	B-Application
and	O
Samsung	O
's	O
S	B-General_Concept
Voice	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
Shawn	O
Carolan	O
of	O
Menlo	O
Ventures	O
,	O
a	O
Siri	B-Application
investor	O
,	O
said	O
,	O
"	O
…	O
When	O
I	O
first	O
encountered	O
Siri	B-Application
,	O
SmarterChild	B-Protocol
already	O
had	O
10	O
million	O
users	O
and	O
was	O
getting	O
a	O
billion	O
messages	O
a	O
day	O
…	O
The	O
market	O
was	O
speaking.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Robert	O
Hoffer	O
,	O
ActiveBuddy	B-Protocol
co-founder	O
,	O
licensed	O
the	O
technology	O
from	O
Microsoft	O
after	O
Microsoft	O
abandoned	O
the	O
Colloquis	B-Protocol
technology	O
.	O
</s>
