BBC set to launch 'Beeb', its own voice assistant

The BBC will launch a new digital voice assistant next year that will be similar to devices developed by Amazon, Apple, Baidu, and Google but - it claims - better able to understand the range of dialects and accents found in the British Isles.

The corporation, the United Kingdom's state broadcaster, says its product, tentatively called "Beeb", will not be a physical device but software that can operate on smart speakers, smart TVs, and mobile phones.

The BBC, which has a workforce of more than 20,000 people, has invited employees from around the UK to record their voices, in a bid to train the software to recognize regional ways of speaking.