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BBC to launch Alexa rival that will grasp regional accents

Corporation recording voices of staff across UK to help Beeb software understand accents

The BBC is preparing to launch a rival to Amazon’s Alexa called Beeb, with a pledge that it will understand British accents.

The voice assistant, which has been created by an in-house BBC team, will be launched next year, with a focus on enabling people to find their favourite programmes and interact with online services.

While some US-developed products have struggled to understand strong regional accents, the BBC will this week ask staff in offices around the UK to record their voices and make sure the software understands them.

The BBC currently has no plans to launch a standalone physical product such as Amazon’s Echo speaker or a Google Home device. Instead, the Beeb software will be built into the BBC’s website, its iPlayer app on smart TVs, and made available to manufacturers who want to incorporate the public broadcaster’s software.