What is the name of Google's virtual assistant introduced in 2016?

Google’s virtual assistant introduced in 2016 was called Google Assistant.

Google unveiled the Assistant on May 18, 2016, at its annual developer conference. It was presented as a conversational, two-way assistant that could understand spoken or typed requests and provide help across Google’s services and devices. The launch accompanied announcements for the Google Home smart speaker and the Allo messaging app.

Google Assistant initially appeared on Google’s Pixel smartphones and Google Home products before expanding to many Android phones, iOS devices, smart speakers, cars, televisions, headphones, and home appliances. Developers could extend its capabilities through Actions on Google and later related tools.

The Assistant built on Google Now but was designed for more natural conversation and follow-up questions. It is commonly confused with Siri, Alexa, or Cortana, which are competing assistants from Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. In newer Google products, Gemini has increasingly replaced or supplemented Google Assistant, but Google Assistant is the correct name for the 2016 introduction.