CES 2020: Google Assistant hits 500 million users, new set of features announced

Google's presence at CES 2020 was focused on Assistant. Google for the first time revealed numbers for Assistant. It also announced a bunch of new features coming to Google Assistant later this year.

Google said over 500 million people use Assistant every month on devices like smart speakers, smart displays, smartphones, TVs, cars and more. Google Assistant is available in over 90 countries. Google also updated users on privacy with Assistant saying that it doesn't send any voice recordings when on standby. Google also reminded users it does not store their audio recordings and they can always change this.

Google also announced new features coming to Assistant starting with "Scheduled Actions". Google Assistant will soon be able to schedule actions for connected smart devices. Users can say, "Hey Google, run the coffee maker at 6 a.m." Google says users can control over 20 new smart devices through Assistant.

Google is bringing household notes which are essentially digital sticky notes for smart displays. Every member of the house can add sticky notes which will be available in one place. Users can say, "Hey Google, leave a note that says I already fed Max breakfast."

Google Assistant will also be able to read out long-form content in more natural sounding voices. Users will be able to ask Google Assistant to read long pieces like articles, blogs or short stories. Google says it is improving Assistant to sound more natural. Google is also planning to add auto-scroll and text highlighting when Assistant is reading out the text. This will be available on Android devices and users can also get the text translated into 42 languages.

Google is also rolling out interpreter mode to businesses globally. This feature will be available in hotels, airports, sports stadiums, banks and more.