Google announces the Google Assistant

Google today introduced its own personal digital assistant called, aptly, the Google Assistant. It's based on existing technology, including Google Now. The assistant will power Google's upcoming Amazon Echo competitor, Google Home. Speaking at the beginning of the keynote at the Google I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai described the technology as "a conversational assistant" that can carry on "an ongoing two-way dialogue." "We want to be there for our users asking them, 'How can I help?'"