Microsoft Swallows Up AI Speech Recognition Company to Boost Healthcare Business 13 Apr 2021 Microsoft has announced that it will buy Nuance Communications in a deal worth $19 billion including debt. Nuance’s AI speech recognition technology is expected to be used to boost the software giant’s healthcare cloud products. CNBC reports that Microsoft announced this week that it will buy speech recognition company Nuance Communications for $56 per share, around 23 percent above its closing price on Friday. The deal is worth around $19 billion including debt. This is the latest example of Microsoft expanding its business in various areas. The company was recently said to be in talks to purchase the gaming-focused chat app Discord for around $10 billion. Last year, Microsoft made an attempt to purchase TikTok’s U.S. business for around $30 billion before the deal fell through.