Digital Assistants stories

Google adds restaurant bookings to AI Mode in Search for New Zealand users, linking diners to live table availability from OpenTable and Wowapps.

Emergent's Wingman puts autonomous AI agents to work across email, calendars and chats, with human approval for higher-risk actions.

Minor Hotels teams up with Google, Salesforce, OneTrust and Deloitte on an AI-led data platform to sharpen guest service across 640 properties.

Progress Software adds AI search, personalisation and conversational tools to Sitefinity as enterprises seek more governed digital experiences.

Animoca Brands' Yat Siu argues autonomous AI agents will become the internet's main actors, with blockchain supplying payments, identity and trust.

Google rolls out conversational Search Live to New Zealand, adding voice and camera support in AI Mode across more than 200 countries.

OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a visual shopping hub, adding side‑by‑side comparisons and richer merchant data for in-chat product discovery.

Agentic AI promises effortless digital delegation, but its admin-level access to data and systems creates profound privacy and security risks.

Google is rolling out Gemini in Chrome to India, New Zealand and Canada, adding over 50 languages and deeper links to Gmail, Maps and YouTube.

ANZ marketers embrace AI to meet soaring demands for real-time, two-way customer conversations, but patchy data and generic campaigns hold them back.

Samsung's Galaxy S26 range debuts AI-heavy features and an Ultra model with a built-in Privacy Display to combat prying eyes in public.

Mylobster.ai unveils plan for kernel-level AI assistants across major platforms, targeting a USD $200 billion-plus systems-level market.

Manhattan rolls out embedded AI agents across its Active suite, promising real-time automation and custom agent creation for retailers.

Salesforce rolls out upgraded Slackbot, turning the chat app into an AI-powered workplace agent for Business+ and Enterprise+ users.

Apple will build its next-generation AI foundation models on Google's Gemini cloud, promising a more personalised Siri later this year.

Yext predicts AI will overhaul online discovery by 2026, as trust in AI search grows and brands race to be chosen by algorithms.

Perforce CTO Rod Cope predicts context and agentic AI will transform coding, jobs and security as ambient systems quietly permeate daily life.

BeyondTrust and Ping Identity unveil unified AI-driven identity security fabric to tackle Zero Trust, silos and non-human access risks.

Amazon launches Nova 2 AI suite with four new models and introduces Nova Forge for firms to create custom AI solutions tailored to diverse industries and tasks.

Over half of government CIOs expect IT budgets to rise in 2026, prioritising AI, cybersecurity and cloud tech despite fiscal constraints, says Gartner research.