Back in 2014, Microsoft introduced Cortana virtual assistant. Microsoft had a list of names for their digital assistant before it was named Cortana. ‘Alyx’ was the name that was leading the list, but the immense support for ‘Cortana’ name in the UserVoice website made Microsoft to choose it over Alyx.

In a recent interview, Sandeep Paruchuri, a former Cortana PM, revealed that Steve Ballmer tried to name Cortana as Bingo. He also mentioned that Ballmer wanted the whole thing to be Microsoft branded.

“Luckily, Satya had different ideas, and was a huge supporter of the project because of his belief in the power of AI. Under his leadership, Cortana got to keep her name and was declared ready to ship,” Sandeep added.

You can read more on Cortana’s history in the link below.

Source: Big Bets