Amazon has finally taken the wraps off its AI-enhanced version of Alexa, called Alexa Plus.
The new version of Alexa is powered by a mixture of LLMs and integrations that reach across news partners and all kinds of apps and ordering services. You’ll be able to use Alexa to add events to your calendar, buy concert tickets, and ask questions about the news.
Amazon is making some big promises here, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. The service won’t start rolling out until March, and it sounds like availability will be limited even then.
You can find all of our coverage in the stream below.
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Amazon announced a new version of its smart assistant today. Alexa Plus comes with expanded capabilities, the company appeared to demonstrate, like finding concert tickets on your behalf or ordering an Uber to pick up someone at the airport. The upgraded smart assistant will also make it easier to have more natural conversations with it, but Amazon will be charging users for those new abilities for the first time.
Early access to Alexa Plus will begin in late March 2025 in the United States, and the roll out will continue in subsequent waves. Subscriptions for Alexa Plus start at $19.99 per month, but it’s free for Prime users. Given that Prime costs $14.99 per month, or $139 per year, it’s hard to imagine anyone opting to pay for Alexa Plus on its own. Many of the smart assistant’s new capabilities, such as jumping to the part of a movie where a specific song is playing, will also be dependent on services like Amazon Music and Amazon Prime Video. So to fully take advantage of Alexa Plus, a Prime membership almost seems mandatory.
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We can’t try Alexa Plus ourselves in the demo area.We’re down on the demo floor now, and we were hoping to try out the new AI-powered assistant. There are six rooms, one with a Fire TV and the rest with Echo Show 21 screens. But all the demos are being run by Amazon reps.
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Amazon is launching an alexa.com website and a new mobile app where Alexa Plus subscribers will be able to use the AI-powered voice assistant. We don’t have many details beyond that, but the website and the app could be handy new ways to interact with the revamped Alexa, which was announced at an event this morning.
At the event, Amazon showed how you’ll be able to have conversations with Alexa Plus for things like ordering groceries, controlling smart home devices, and even telling you if someone in your house has recently walked the dog by looking at your home camera footage. Amazon also demoed how Alexa Plus could analyze and summarize documents, and perhaps the new website and app will be used to upload that information.
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Amazon is finally launching the long-awaited generative AI version of Alexa — Alexa Plus — that, if all goes well, will take away much of the friction that comes with talking to a speaker to control your smart home or getting info on the fly.
Some of the new abilities coming to Alexa Plus include the ability to do things for you — you’ll be able to ask it to order groceries for you or send event invites to your friends. Amazon says it will also be able to memorize personal details like your diet and movie preferences.
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Amazon is set to announce new Alexa features beginning at 10AM ET this morning — and we hope a few devices accompany them. There isn’t a way to watch the event remotely, but our team is here in person to bring you all of the updates as they happen.
We’re expecting Amazon to announce its new AI-powered Alexa, which, according to earlier reports, could cost as much as $5 to $10 per month on top of a Prime membership. Reuters said in June that Amazon has considered the subscription pricing for a complete Alexa overhaul that could allow people to order dinner from services like Uber Eats or help write an email.
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We’re now inside Amazon’s event and waiting.
We’re out of the cold and inside for the Alexa event. But not quite inside yet. We’re in a waiting area. Drinking Pellegrino. Living the life. I think the doors open for the main room at 9:30. Event starts at 10AM ET.
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We’re on the ground at Amazon’s event.The show is set to start at 10AM ET. We’re in a (chilly) line outside, waiting to get live blogging. Follow along for all the big announcements.
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Amazon won’t launch the AI-powered upgrade for Alexa for at least a month after its showcase at an event set for February 26th, according to The Washington Post. The delay is reportedly at least partly because the updated assistant has issues with giving inaccurate answers to test questions.
An anonymous Amazon employee told the outlet that the upgrade won’t come “until March 31 or later” due to the issues. The new Alexa could be tied to a subscription, with features like “the ability to adopt a personality, recall conversations, order takeout or call a taxi,” and was originally set to launch later this month as a free trial, the Post writes, citing internal documents and messages.
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Amazon sent out five different invites to its upcoming product event, and when pieced together, they spell out a familiar word: Alexa, the name of the company’s digital voice assistant.
We assumed the event would be about Alexa’s long-heralded renaissance, and given this message, plus Amazon telling Reuters that the event will be Alexa-focused, it seems certain the new Alexa will arrive this month.
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Amazon sent out invites today for a February event in New York City. The individual invites give little clue as to what will be announced at the event, which will be hosted by Panos Panay and the Amazon Devices & Services team on February 26th.
However, the blue swirly logo behind the words “You’re invited” does give off strong Alexa vibes, which originally made us think that the company will finally officially launch its new supercharged Alexa digital assistant. Then we found further evidence that’s the case by piecing together the five different invites Amazon sent out and discovering that, in fact, they spell Alexa.
