BMW launches a personal voice assistant for its cars

At TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018, BMW today premiered its digital personal assistant for its cars, the aptly named BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant. But you won't have to say "Hey, BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant" to wake it up. You can give it any name you want. The announcement comes only a few weeks after BMW also launched its integration with Amazon's Alexa, but it's worth stressing that these are complementary technologies. BMW's own assistant is all about your car, while its partnerships with Amazon and also Microsoft enables other functions that aren't directly related to your driving experience.