Facebook's smart speaker didn’t ship with a rival to Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. But the company is now working on its own digital assistant, according to a new report from CNBC.
It's not clear exactly how the assistant will work or what it will be called, though CNBC reports it could be integrated with Facebook's Oculus virtual reality headsets or with the company's Portal speakers. Right now, Portal relies on Alexa for assistant functionality, though you can control speaker functions like volume by saying "hey Portal."
SEE ALSO:Facebook is getting rid of its Facebook Watch show pagesFacebook doesn't have an AI assistant of its own, however, despite longstanding rumors about its ambitions in the space.
The latest project is reportedly being led by Ira Snyder, who works in Facebook's Reality Labs. Snyder's LinkedIn profile lists his job as "Director, AR/VR and Facebook Assistant." Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn't the first time Facebook has explored an assistant feature. The company's Messenger team previously built an assistant for the messaging app called M, which was supposed to act like a personal assistant. Facebook's vision was to use a combination of humans and AI to help you do stuff like buy plane tickets or order food. The company eventually shut down the feature, but it was reported last year (also by CNBC) that a revamped "M," apparently short "Marvin," could make an appearance in Portal speakers.
Whether or not this is the same "Facebook Assistant" project Snyder is still working on is unclear. But, it seems Facebook's dreams of having its own version of Alexa are alive and well.
UPDATE: April 17, 2019, 2:36 p.m. PDT In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said, “We are working to develop voice and AI assistant technologies that may work across our family of AR/VR products including Portal, Oculus and future products.”
TopicsAlexaFacebookSocial Media
(责任编辑：知識)
Early Apple
J.K. Rowling has an inspirational piece of advice for budding writers
Acer's new camera lets 8 people play with your pet using their phones
Hasselblad's camera module adds 10x optical zoom to Moto Z phonesYou can now play 'Solitaire' and 'TicThe Weeknd teases new music in Instagram post
The Weeknd is approaching.。 The Grammy award-winning singer looks to be in full third-studio-album m
...[详细]MTV VMAs 2016: See the full winners list
The 2016 VMAs were Sunday night and Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna and more are all competing for top
...[详细]
With all the news about driverless cars, Facebook collecting WhatsApp data and high school football
...[详细]NYC real estate startup Compass is now worth $1 billion
New York-based real estate startup Compass Inc.raised new financing that values the company atmore t
...[详细]Dog elected for third term as mayor of Minnesota town
Hopefully he has a human chief of staff.。Duke the Great Pyrenees is the only dog that's ever been el
...[详细]Robert Kirkman's amazing superhero comic is ending, and that's OK
Invincibleis one of the best comics out there, but the 13-year-old series that Robert Kirkman launch
...[详细]London street artist paints heartbreaking tribute to 5
LONDON -- A street artist has painted an image of Omran Daqneesh, the five-year-old boy whose photo
...[详细]New partnerships will let you tell your Sonos speakers what music to play
NEW YORK -- Sonos took a look at the future and realized it's time to put partners first.The wireles
...[详细]Amazon's Echo made controlling music with your voice easy-peasy, but its sound quality could be a lo
...[详细]How one Aussie company became huge in China
SYDNEY, Australia -- Walk through any Australian shopping mall, and you are likely to spot a Chemist
...[详细]U.S. government issues warning on McDonald's recalled wearable devices
Interactive 'magpie map' arms you against scourge of the skies
