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Google Assistant can now automatically change passwords

The feature is now widely available.

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Google said a year ago that Assistant would offer to change compromised passwords, and now the company is delivering on that promise in earnest. Android Police notes that Assistant warnings are now rolling out more broadly to Chrome users, including those on Android. Sign in to a site with a compromised password and you'll both get the familiar "change your password" alert and, on some sites, an option to have Assistant automatically make that change. You can take control at any point, but this will be helpful if you'd rather not spend time devising a secure replacement sign-in.

The helper uses the AI from Google's web version of Duplex to navigate websites and apply password changes. It knows how to click, scroll and fill in forms that would typically require human intervention.

The feature doesn't work on every website at this moment. However, the Assistant password tool has only been available to a relatively small group of users since it was introduced at Google I/O last May. The expanded access still represents a significant improvement, and could be extremely useful if you're ever the victim of a data breach that exposes your login details.