Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration to build on the next generation of Apple Foundation Models based on Google's Gemini and cloud technology.
Chatbots aren't sophisticated enough to handle customer questions, two-thirds of consumers say.
Amazon has the biggest share of the smart-speaker market, but Apple customers are most likely to use voice commands to control other media devices.
Giving virtual assistants human qualities could prompt people to reveal more personal information to brands, according to a study led by researchers in computer science and mathematics. It also could
ease some privacy data concerns.
About 58.6% of online U.S. adults -- 148 million -- have some voice search experience and among smart speaker owners the adoption rate is 87.8%, according to the report.