Facebook is working on a digital assistant named Moneypenny to help you find and buy products
AP
But where Apple's Siri, Google Now, and Microsoft Cortana focus on productivity, Moneypenny is actually a way to ask real people for help researching and buying products and services.
Facebook is testing it internally, and that name - taken from Miss Moneypenny M's assistant in the James Bond series of books and movies, and most recently played in Skyfall by Naomie Harris - could still change before its still unknown launch date, according to the report.
"It's also unclear what features the service will begin with and how exactly Facebook will fulfill requests," says The Information.
It seems from the report that Facebook's Moneypenny will have more in common with services like Magic or Operator, where you just text a person what you need and they figure out the logistics.
Those startups take a service charge on top of the cost of the goods delivered, but it's unknown how Facebook Messenger will charge its 700 million users for Moneypenny, or how it'll actually handle the delivery itself - it seems unlikely, but not impossible, that Facebook will hire its own fleet of delivery drivers.
Facebook Messenger, which is led by former PayPal CEO David Marcus, has been investing in making the texting app more of a shopping tool, though so far it's mostly been for stuff like order updates. This could be a major new service from Facebook, and one of the only things the company charges its users for.
NOW WATCH: BI Asks Austin: 'Is Facebook Still Cool?'
- I quit McKinsey after 1.5 years. I was making over $200k but my mental health was shattered.
- Some Tesla factory workers realized they were laid off when security scanned their badges and sent them back on shuttles, sources say
- I tutor the children of some of Dubai's richest people. One of them paid me $3,000 to do his homework.
- Why are so many elite coaches moving to Western countries?
- Global GDP to face a 19% decline by 2050 due to climate change, study projects
- 5 things to keep in mind before taking a personal loan
- Markets face heavy fluctuations; settle lower taking downtrend to 4th day
- Move over Bollywood, audio shows are starting to enter the coveted ‘100 Crores Club’