IBM's Watson Assistant lets any company build Alexa-like voice interfaces

IBM is today launching Watson Assistant, a new service aimed at companies looking to build voice-activated virtual assistants for their own products. Want your hotel's rooms to remember a guest's preferences for air-con? Or your car's dashboard to be controllable via voice interface? IBM's message to companies is: we can help you build that. It's an interesting pitch, especially as voice assistants like Amazon's Alexa are being integrated into new arenas.