Your Amazon Echo could be about to get much, much smarter. The all-conquering online retailer just announced a new, more intelligent version of its virtual assistant Alexa, which has a range of fresh AI-powered features baked-in.
And just like the rumours have hinted for over a year, those smarts come at a cost.
Amazon has been slower to embrace the generative AI boom than many of its rivals — despite owning one of the most widely-used Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistants, Alexa. The launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 kickstarted an arms race between the biggest technology companies, with Google racing to compete with its own Gemini assistant, a more personal Siri in the works from Apple, and now an overhauled Alexa.
Unleashed at an event in New York on February 26, Amazon unveiled Alexa Plus, stylised as Alexa+, which the company says has undergone a “complete rearchitecture” in order to become a smarter personal assistant.
It will begin rolling out from next month, initially in the United States of America, costing $20 (£15.75 converted) a month as part of a new subscription system – but will be free to those with Amazon Prime, and will work with “almost all” existing Alexa-powered Amazon Echo devices.
Senior Vice President Panos Panay, who leads the Devices & Services team at Amazon, hosted the majority of the event. The Amazon executive previously worked at Microsoft, where he spearheaded the development of Microsoft Surface two-in-one devices and laptops, and the redesigned Windows 11
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As part of the upgrade, voice-activated assistant Alexa will be able to seamlessly move between different services to complete a request. As it stands, Alexa can only compute and complete single commands at a time.
In one example, Alexa Plus was able to locate a local restaurant, book a table, add it to the family calendar, then follow-up with a text to a babysitter about the plans. All of this happens off the back of a single spoken command.
“Alexa knows almost every instrument in your life, your schedule, your smart home, your preferences, the devices you’re using, the people you’re connected to, the entertainment you love and uses many of the apps you use, a lot of the services you need,” said Panos Panay, Amazon’s head of devices and services, at a launch event in New York.
Alexa Plus is able to digest and analyse documents too.
You’ll be able to upload lengthy documents and ask the AI to summarise key details from it, setting reminders or adding dates to calendars if needed. This move mirrors generative AI-powered summarisation tools that fellow tech giants Apple, Google and Samsung have added to their smartphones over the last year, enabling users to have their emails and files summarised for them.
Amazon will launch a new Alexa Plus smartphone app and website to upload documents and photos for the AI assistant to analyse.
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Amazon also confirmed that the new Alexa Plus will include AI agent capabilities, meaning users can give it a specific task and Alexa can browse the web autonomously on their behalf to complete it.
In a demo on-stage, the tech giant showed how a user could tell Alexa their oven was broken and to find a repair service, with the AI assistant then searching the internet for a nearby appliance repair service, confirming with the user, then booking an appointment to have the device fixed.
Alexa director Mara Segal also Alexa Plus will be able to review documents to find specific information for you, like a homeowners association contract laden with legalese so new homeowners can ask questions about what is, like installing solar panels.
Amazon said the new Alexa was using a range of AI models to carry out all these new tasks, including its own new model, Nova, and AI firm Anthropic’s – which Amazon is a major investor in.
According to Amazon, Alexa Plus will work across “almost all” of the existing Alexa-compatible gadgets in the world, including Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Echo Show, to name just a few
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Industry expert and analyst Paolo Pescatore, of PP Foresight, said Amazon’s announcement was a significant moment given the prevalence of Alexa-powered devices in homes already, saying it was “taking AI to the masses”.
“There’s a lot riding on this revamp service given the lengthy delays and to justify the huge investments poured into AI and everything else,” he said. “We are now starting to see meaningful developments in the world of AI that promise to offer users a personalised experience. The biggest question is whether users are ready, given their early experiences and concerns around security and trust.
“These factors still remain huge barriers to wider adoption.
“If executed well, it should resonate with customers rather than getting users to fork out for another additional monthly fee. All of these latest moves reinforce the importance of Prime and providing users with a one-stop shop for nearly everything.”
Amazon has said there are some 500 million Alexa-capable devices in consumer hands already, meaning the revamp is at once a huge money-making opportunity for the Seattle retailer — and a big financial risk if it does not live up to expectations.
Additional Reporting By Martyn Landi, PA Technology Correspondent