Google woos developers to catch Amazon in digital assistant race

San Francisco

HERE is Google's vision for the future of computing: As you drive home from work, you tell your car, "Ok, Google", triggering the company's Assistant. You order food, the digital helper handles the transaction and makes sure it's ready when you arrive.

Right now, Amazon.com Inc and its Alexa digital assistant are closer to realising that goal, having cut a deal this year with Ford Motor Co to let drivers search, shop and control other devices by voice from their vehicles. That's just one of the ways Amazon is outpacing Google in the race to weave a digital assistant into consumers' lives.

What's more, Amazon has a leading e-commerce business well suited to this emerging world, with a massive delivery network to speed orders to shoppers - an area where Google has struggled. Amazon's Echo connected speakers, launched in 2014, have given Alexa an early lead by reach…