Last Updated on December 23, 2015

The Wall Street Journal citing “people familiar with the matter” has published a report that claims Google is working on a new messaging service for mobile that will take advantage of its AI and “so-called chatbot technology.”

From the description, the messaging service sounds similar to Facebook Messenger and M, which can find birthday gifts for your friends, transfer money and more using its powerful AI and human element factor.

The chatbots used by Google in its new messaging service will scour the web for the question asked by users and provide them with the appropriate answer. The team is being led by Nick Fox, a veteran at Google, who has been working on this project for over a year now. Fox also tried acquiring 200 Labs Inc., a small startup that makes chatbots, but they refused his offer. 200 Labs has played a key role in developing a marketplace and rating service for hundreds of chatbots that are available on Telegram.

It is unclear when Google plans on launching its new messaging service and what it will be called. Google’s current messaging platform, Hangouts, is not doing particularly well, but its failure is to be blamed on the company itself. The lack of frequent updates and any meaningful additions to Hangouts over the last year or two have made sure that even loyal Google users flock to other messaging services.

Source : Wall Street Journal