Huawei, which has been advertising Amazon’s Alexa digital voice assistant for its smartphones in the US, is reportedly working on a new AI of its own for its devices in China. According to a report by Bloomberg, the world’s third largest smartphone maker already has a team of over 100 engineers, working on the early stages of the virtual assistant. It has been added that Huawei aims to take over Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant and interestingly, even Amazon’s Alexa with its own digital assistant. The report further mentions that the new AI will communicate with users in Chinese languages. Meanwhile, the company will keep working on the AI to compete against its rivals on a global level.
Although nothing concrete has been mentioned yet, we might see some more details about the upcoming digital assistant in the soon-to-be-launched Huawei P10 flagship smartphone. Since the technology is said to be in early stages, assuming it would be included in the P10 is a long shot. Once its own digital assistant is fully developed, Huawei might even ditch Amazon Alexa completely, for its smartphones sold in the US.
Huawei is not the only Android OEM working on digital assistants. Samsung is also expected to unveil its own ‘Bixby’ virtual assistant, which will arrive in its upcoming Galaxy S8 and S8+ flagship smartphones. The AI is said to use the technology made by Viv Labs, a startup founded by the people behind Apple’s Siri.
LG too, has confirmed that it will have an enhanced AI in its upcoming G6 flagship. Earlier this month, Huawei posted an advertisement featuring actor Justin Long. The advertisement pokes fun at Apple. Huawei used Long in two of its advertisements. The first is titled ‘The Interview,’ and talks about the Huawei Mate 9 phablet that was launched at CES 2017 last month. On the other hand, the second ad, called ‘The Audition,’ focuses on the Huawei Matebook.
Huawei working on a new digital assistant for its smartphones: Report
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