Google Assistant can now use your voice to control 5,000 devices

Google Assistant can now control more than 5,000 smart devices from 1,500 manufacturers, the company announced today. By comparison, its chief competitor, Amazon’s Alexa, is able to control 12,000 devices from 2,000 manufacturers, an Amazon spokesperson told VentureBeat.

The announcement was made today in the lead-up to I/O, Google’s annual developer conference scheduled to take place May 8-10 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California.

Competition between Google and Amazon on smart home devices has at times been pretty fierce.

Last December, Google removed YouTube access from Amazon’s Echo Show and Fire TV, claiming Amazon wasn’t selling its Nest smart home products on its online marketplace. Highlighting tensions between the two, Google took the unusual step of issuing a public statement to announce the change.

Roughly three months later, Amazon acquired smart home company Ring for a reported $1 billion.

Stiff competition between Google and Amazon may be warranted, as consumers’ purchases for the smart home may influence the sale of smart speakers.

Voice control of smart home devices is one of the most popular use cases for smart speakers, followed by listening to music or the news. Voice control has also been heavily correlated with the sale of smart home devices. According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, about nine out of 10 respondents shopping for smart home devices said they were influenced by the device’s compatibility with their smart speaker. Conversely, 85 percent said their smart device influences which AI assistant they use.

More than 40 percent of consumers surveyed said they have used a voice assistant to control a smart device in their home.

Update: An Amazon spokesperson initially told VentureBeat Alexa is able to connect with 4,000 devices from 1,200 manufacturers. This number was updated a day later to 12,000 devices from 2,000 manufacturers.