You can now ask your Google Home to buy things

The smart, cloud-connected speakers Amazon Echo and Google Home, can now answer questions, read audiobooks, report traffic and weather, order pizza or an Uber, and apparently, play music. According to an article at The Verge, the rumored Chinese voice assistant will be introduced to support an ecosystem of apps, games and services that Huawei is already building in its native market. Still, there are a number of concerns to overcome before Google and Amazon can integrate phone calls into their devices, the Journal notes, mostly around privacy, telecom involvement, and emergency services.

Further, even if these complications are set aside, it will still need to be seen if law enforcement agencies will be allowed to wiretap the calls made from these smart speakers with help from the federal laws.

Amazon and Google would also have to implement a feature to prevent voice commands from being triggered during a phone conversation. The feature would reportedly use voice over IP (VOIP).

Additionally, privacy issues are inherently tied with the awkwardness of having a conversation over a speaker phone.

It’s still early days for developers really, though, so we can expect more useful services, from grocery ordering to more comprehensive integration with smart home hardware, to dribble out over the coming months. Amazon quietly updated Alexa to support Outlook calendars, letting you ask the virtual assistant to add and review events on your Outlook.com calendar.

If this is accurate, Huawei wouldn’t be the first Android device maker to develop its own service.

Virtual voice activated personal assistants are blossoming. It’s an unparalleled convenience to say “Alexa, order more paper towels” and have the speaker respond with a confirmation from your last order followed by a confirmation that your shipment will arrive the next day.

Another reason why Huawei is focusing its new AI assistant on the market in China is Google. Another option is to sync a user’s existing phone number and contacts with the Echo. The AI assistant revolution, it seems, may be televised.