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LG and Microsoft's New Voice Assistant Lets You Interrupt Mid-Sentence

LG and Microsoft's New Voice Assistant Lets You Interrupt Mid-Sentence

LG Electronics just pulled back the curtain on a smart home voice assistant built with Microsoft, and it's got a trick that might finally make voice control feel less like talking to a robot. The assistant, revealed at the Microsoft Industry Summit in Seoul's Gangnam District, will live inside LG's ThinQ ON smart home hub. And it's coming this year.

No More Waiting for the Robot to Finish

We've all been there: you ask your smart speaker something, then wait… and wait… while it finishes a long-winded reply. LG's new assistant flips that script. Powered by Speech to Speech intelligent agent tech and Microsoft's Voice Live capabilities, it lets you interrupt mid-sentence. Bring up a new topic, and the system instantly drops what it was saying, catches your new intent, and rolls with it. It's a small change that could make a big difference in how natural conversations with your home feel.

From Living Room to Hotel Lobby

The Voice Live-equipped ThinQ ON is slated for release within this year, and existing users will get the upgrade via a software update. But LG isn't just thinking about your living room. Hotels, offices, and retail stores are also on the target list. With smart speaker sales flattening out, the real battle now is over who can deliver a conversation that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out. LG's bet on Microsoft's AI suggests it wants a seat at both the home and commercial tables.

Why This Matters

Voice assistants have been stuck in a Q&A rut for years. You ask, they answer, you wait. It's a bit like talking to someone who never lets you get a word in edgewise. By allowing interruptions, LG and Microsoft are nudging voice interaction closer to how humans actually talk—messy, overlapping, and full of mid-thought pivots. If it works as promised, it could set a new bar for what we expect from smart home tech.

Key Points

  • Interrupt-friendly: The assistant supports mid-conversation interruptions, instantly switching topics without missing a beat.
  • Launch timeline: ThinQ ON with Voice Live arrives this year, with updates for existing devices.
  • Beyond the home: LG is targeting hotels, offices, and retail spaces, not just living rooms.
  • Tech behind it: Speech to Speech intelligent agent + Microsoft Voice Live.
  • Why it matters: A more natural voice experience could shake up a stagnant smart speaker market.