They reached out to some friends in business and are looking to productize their methods.
FORBES: Magazine Article
2.
Maybe there is now a Manhattan Project inside Microsoft to productize its own technology into a Siri competitor.
FORBES: Suppose Microsoft Had Bought Siri?
3.
Without a Salesforce.com at the center, even if vendors wanted to cooperate and productize integrations, the sheer number of integrations that would have to be supported make it unaffordable.