Here’s some news that’s not at all dystopian and another step toward our rule under a single tech conglomerate Singularity: Amazon and Microsoft’s AI assistants, Alexa and Cortana, will soon be able to work together and talk to each other. By the end of the year, people will be able to command Cortana to open Alexa and use its functions, and vice versa, the New York Times reports.

It’s a rare partnership between two tech giants. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos first proposed the idea to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at a Microsoft summit last year.

The partnership is a good idea, Bezos told the Times, because different digital assistants have different strengths, and people should be able to use different ones, “the same way they turn to one friend for advice about hiking and another for restaurant recommendations.”

Apparently, Google and Apple (which have their own digital assistants) weren’t invited to be part of the friendship circle, but Bezos would “welcome” them.

So, humanity’s takeover by robots is delayed for now. But doesn't it kind of seem one step closer, too?