https://apnews.com/419f74804b7b41ec932bb5428584c032 > SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Google launched its now distinctive digital assistant in 2016, it was already in danger of being an also-ran. > At the time, Amazon had been selling its Echo smart speaker, powered by its Alexa voice assistant, for more than a year . Apple's Siri was already five years old and familiar to most iPhone users. Google's main entry in the field up to that point was Google Now, a phone-bound app that took voice commands but didn't answer back.