Google Vice President Nick Fox discussed the company's Duplex AI at a press event in Mountain View, California. Google is moving ahead with Duplex, the stunningly human-sounding artificial intelligence software behind its new automated system that places phone calls on your behalf with a natural-sounding voice instead of a robotic one. The search giant said Wednesday it's beginning public testing of the software, which debuted in May and which is designed to make calls to businesses and book appointments. Duplex instantly raised questions over the ethics and privacy implications of using an AI assistant to hold lifelike conversations for you. Google says its plan is to start its public trial with a small group of "trusted testers" and businesses that have opted into receiving calls from Duplex.

Google has confirmed that many Home speaker and Chromecast users around the world are unable to use their devices, even after a reboot. The company didn't say why, and didn't have an estimated time of repair as of this writing. However, the issue has been inconsistent -- my Home Mini could respond to commands, while TechCrunch colleagues received an error. There are claims that the outage may have stemmed from an unsuccessful update, but there isn't any firm evidence of this at the moment. One thing's clear: this is bound to be frustrating if you rely heavily on Google's ecosystem to power your smart home.

Add one more digital voice assistant iPhone users can control with just their voice. Amazon rolled out an update to its Alexa app, allowing users to make requests from its digital assistant using voice commands. The update is available on both iPhones and iPads. The feature isn't as elegant as Apple's Siri, where users can just speak "Hey, Siri" to wake the assistant without ever touching their phone. To trigger voice commands on Alexa, users open the app and then tap the icon at the bottom to start asking for things like the weather or sports scores.

Silicon Valley's quest for artificial intelligence has led it to build self-driving cars, drones, and robots that can do backflips. But often that journey has come down to something much more prosaic, such as ordering a pizza -- or booking a restaurant reservation. Duplex is the company's next-generation virtual helper. When the company first showcased it at its developer conference in May, it engaged in conversation so lifelike -- complete with humanlike "ums" and pauses -- that the person on the other end of the call couldn't tell that the speaker was just software. Some asked whether the interaction was fake.

Google talked about a lot at this year's I/O developer conference, but one demo quickly stole the show: a male voice on a phone, making a restaurant reservation. The restaurant was real, but the person making the call wasn't -- it was Google Assistant, powered by an AI system called Duplex that's meant to complete tasks by interacting with humans on the phone. It was, uh, pretty eerie, and it won't be long before Google Assistant is calling a business near you. The company confirmed that today that it will start testing its Duplex-powered calls with "trusted testers and select businesses" in New York and San Francisco within weeks. That said, there are very strict limits on what the Duplex-powered Assistant can actually do.

When Google unveiled the Duplex phone-calling reservation AI at I/O last month, the world was shook. Despite the potential convenience it presented, the system's ability to mimic human inflections in conversation was uncanny and borderline-creepy. Back then, we only heard recordings of what Assistant could do with Duplex technology. At a recent demo in New York, though, I got a chance to chat with the real thing, playing the role of a restaurant staffer on the call. More people will be taking calls made by Google Assistant soon, as the company begins public tests of the Duplex technology. Only a select group of users and restaurants across the US will be involved in the initial wave, though.

There are two distinct ways of looking at the new Sonos Beam soundbar: from the perspective of a person who already owns Sonos speakers, or as a person who does not have any Sonos speakers. The company says nearly 40 percent of Sonos purchases within the past year were made by people who already own a Sonos speaker, and that once people buy a Sonos product, they use it for years. You will think you are listening to Beyonce or Childish Gambino or "Chill Hits" on Spotify. But what you're really hearing is "Buy more Sonos." You will wake up with no recollection of having bought the thing, and you may have some explaining to do. However, if you've never owned a Sonos speaker and you happen to be looking for a TV soundbar that lets you use Amazon's Alexa to control the experience, then the Beam is worth considering.

Google is working on some nifty new features for Google Maps, including a short list of your favorite places, the possibility of a'virtual positioning system' and more. Assistant is coming to Google Maps in a big way, with a ton of new shortcuts, as well as the ability for the digital assistant to text your friend when you're on your way. Google is rolling out a tool called'Your Match', which uses machine learning to determine your location and interests, serving up targeted suggestions for new businesses opening up in your area and more.

Increasingly funny AI assistants get critiqued, a new version of macOS previewed and so many questions on the notion of dual-screen laptops. AI assistants like Siri, Alexa, Google and Cortana all bring canned humor to go along with their helping virtual hands. We talked to one of the writers behind the jokes, and then had several comics evaluate each assistant's material to see which one came out on top. Has Apple been listening to its critics? Maybe, based on Dana Wollman's first impressions of macOS Mojave.

The Google Home finally has the ability to speak Spanish. Though Spanish was available as part of Google Assistant for some time now, for whatever reason it wasn't available through the Home, Home Mini, or Home Max. Spanish support started to quietly roll out two weeks ago, and now Google is formally announcing the feature. Three localized versions of Spanish are available: one for Spain, Mexico, and the US. The Home and Home Mini actually launched in Spain last week (where, obviously, Spanish support was available from the start), and Google is also bringing those devices to Mexico as of today.