The Alphabet Inc. division unveiled a new mobile messaging application Wednesday called Allo containing a digital personal assistant, based on AI technology that powers other Google services like Inbox. At its I/O developer conference near its Silicon Valley headquarters, the company also showed off a voice-based search device called Google Home that uses the same assistant technology to answer questions when people are in their houses, a potentially potent rival to Amazon.com Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the goal is to develop an "on-going two-way dialog with Google" and build billions of people their own "individual Google." The CEO sees the Google digital assistant as an "ambient experience that extends across devices." Google became one of the world's most valuable companies by making a search engine that sucks in billions of queries people type into web browsers on PCs and phones.

While Apple (AAPL) has Siri, its AI-based digital assistant for iPhones, it has yet to introduce a home hub device. Amazon, though, has sold an estimated 3 million Echo home hubs. "Credit to the team at Amazon for creating a lot of excitement in this space," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in his I/O keynote speech Wednesday. Google Home, designed for music streaming and other entertainment, features built-in search capabilities. The "virtual agent" answers simple questions and carries out basic tasks.

LAS VEGAS--Cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are the keys to delivering richer, more sophisticated shopping experiences, eBay Chief Product Officer RJ Pittman said during a presentation Tuesday here at the Shoptalk 2016 retail conference. "I've yet to see great, personalized shopping experiences at scale," Pittman said. "We think there's huge opportunities to move forward through AI, machine learning and predictive modeling." Pittman cited the potential commerce benefits to be gained from AI technologies like natural language understanding, which enables software systems to understand human speech as it is spoken. For example, by processing the information in a shopper statement like "Going with my wife on a camping trip in Tahoe next month, need a tent," eBay would automatically suggest a tent large enough for two people that's also appropriate for Tahoe's altitude and average temperatures in June.

South Korean professional Go player Lee Sedol reviews his second match against Google's artificial intelligence program, AlphaGo in Seoul on March 10, 2016. The human Go champion said he was left "speechless" after his second straight loss to Google's Go-playing machine.

A sneak peak of what the future holds for Android, Google's artificial intelligence pursuits, and virutal reality. Google announces messaging app Allo at I/O developer conference in Mountain View, Calif. Google debuted its new messaging app to rival Facebook Messenger at I/O, its annual software developers conference. The messaging app has a twist: It's not just for chatting with friends and family. You can ask Google questions the way you would a digital assistant such as Siri.

Google Home will take on Amazon Echo when the voice-activated device launches later this year. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google officially entered the voice-activated digital assistant race Wednesday with Google Home. The small device will compete directly with Amazon's popular Echo and should be available to consumers later this year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced at the search company's annual developers conference. The move had been anticipated, as Google looks to put its mark on a coming age of artificial intelligence in which machines learn to interpret and answer human queries by leveraging the speed and scope of cloud competing. Project lead Mario Querioz held the device in his palm, revealing a design that was shorter and wider than Amazon's cylindrical Echo, which is powered by Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa.

When Google's AlphaGo computer program bested South Korean Go champion Lee Se-dol in March, it took advantage of a secret weapon: a microprocessor chip specially designed by Google. The chip sped up the Go-playing software, allowing it to plot moves in the time-limited match and look further ahead in the game. But the processor, built in secret over the last three years and announced on Wednesday, plays a more strategic role in the company. Google, a division of Alphabet Inc., has been using it for more than a year to...

A group of business and former military leaders wants to limit states' ability to regulate driverless cars, calling for sweeping federal legislation to avoid a patchwork of rules they believe could hinder adoption of the technologically advanced vehicles. Executives including FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Fred Smith and retired U.S. generals associated with a Washington group that lobbies to reduce America's oil dependence plan to meet with politicians in the nation's capital on Thursday to discuss recommendations for speeding introduction of driverless cars. Others expected to be present include John Krafcik, head of the self-driving car division at Google parent Alphabet Inc. In addition to limiting states' regulatory efforts, the group wants a U.S. legal liability fund created to ease concerns over lawsuits that could arise in skirmishes over whether drivers or computers are at fault in crashes. The proposals aren't likely to gain immediate traction on Capitol Hill, where Republican lawmakers are at loggerheads with the Obama administration on a variety of fronts during a presidential election year.

Google has revealed a new smart AI assistant and will build it into everything from a new smart listening speaker to a new messaging app. The firm is aiming squarely at Amazon's Echo with the Home speaker, and WhatsApp and Snapchat with the Allo app. Sundar Pichai took to the stage at a giant outdoor amphitheatre holding 7,000 next to Google's Silicon Valley HQ to unveil the Google Assistant and Google Home speaker, alongside a new version of Android and a virtual reality headsets for mobile phones. Mario Queiroz showed off the new Google speaker, called Google Home, that will be released later this year. The tech giant is reportedly working on an update to its current entry-level Cardboard, and is expected to release a headset this year.

Children who spend too much time watching television and playing video games may be damaging more than just their physical health. According to new research, it could also lead to lower grades in maths and English. A small study by a group of psychologists has found those who spent more time splitting their attention between various devices achieved lower test scores than those who did not. While constant switching attention between devices may be a growing trend, its affect on school performance and personality has not been well studied. Researchers at the University of Toronto looked at the effect of juggling multiple devices, such as watching television on while texting, on students' cognition, performance at school and personality.