Google launches AI secretary that waits on hold for phone users

Hold for Me notifies users when call is picked up, leaving them free to put phone down

Hold music could one day be a thing of the past thanks to a service coming to Google's smartphones.

Hold for Me, which launches on Thursday in the US for owners of Google's Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a phones, involves Google's AI tools taking over as an automatic secretary when on hold to a call centre, leaving the user free to put down the phone and carry on with their life.