Google unveils its virtual personal assistant

Google Inc unveiled its answer to Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant, along with new messaging and virtual reality products, at its annual I/O developer conference on Wednesday, doubling up on artificial intelligence and machine learning as the keys to its future.

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai introduced Google Assistant, a virtual personal assistant, along with the tabletop speaker appliance Google Home.

He also unveiled Allo, a new messaging service that will compete with Facebook's WhatsApp and Messenger products and feature a chatbot powered by Google Assistant. Allo, like WhatsApp, will also have end-to-end encryption when it is rolled out this summer.