As a nascent field, the voice AI industry has largely operated without any widely accepted standards in the last few years. However, government scrutiny has raised concerns over how tech companies harness data through their voice assistants and the amount of control they have in the market. Recently, the European Union released a report on the competition concerns stemming from major voice assistants. As a result, companies are banding together to launch initiatives that ‘democratize’ voice: Matter, formerly Project Connected Home Over IP, will roll out devices later this year that are compatible with multiple assistants, and Amazon’s Voice Interoperability Initiative seeks to do the same. This week, the Linux Foundation’s launch of the Open Voice Network goes even farther in trying to establish comprehensive, open, and shared standards with a particular focus on data security and privacy.