Google Duplex launches internationally with limited New Zealand pilot

Google is piloting its Duplex service outside of the US for the first time, with a new trial to confirm holiday opening hours in New Zealand. Starting this week, the company says its AI-powered voice assistant will be calling up a “small number of local businesses” to ask about their opening hours during the country’s upcoming Labour Day public holiday on October 28th. The information will be used to update the businesses’ details on Google Maps and Search.

The functionality is much more limited than what’s currently available in the US, where VentureBeat notes that the service is currently being tested to make reservations, mainly for restaurants, across 48 US states. A Google support page says that the functionality is currently...

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