On Wednesday, Amazon (AMZN.O) unveiled the first major overhaul of its Alexa voice assistant since its introduction over a decade ago. This update incorporates generative artificial intelligence, reflecting Amazon’s significant investment of billions of dollars into Alexa since its launch in 2014.
The goal has been to integrate the service into various devices and ultimately boost sales on its main e-commerce platform.
Panos Panay, Amazon’s head of devices and services, stated at a launch event in New York, “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.”
The new service, called Alexa+, is free for Amazon Prime members and costs $19.99 a month for non-Prime users. It will be available to select users in March, with a broader rollout planned over time. Initially, Amazon considered pricing the service at $5 or $10 per month for all users without a Prime membership.
Panay demonstrated how Alexa can remember customer preferences through prompts. For example, it can note that a household member is vegetarian and prefers Greek and Italian food while avoiding peanut butter. Alexa can also make dinner reservations and send timed texts or reminders.
Additionally, the service can connect to Amazon products like Ring doorbells to display recordings from their cameras.
Alexa director Mara Segal mentioned that Alexa can review documents, such as a homeowners association contract, to inform residents about what is permitted, like installing solar panels.
Following the announcement, Amazon’s shares rose 1.7% to $216.45.
The event also revealed a secret project known internally as “Banyan,” which aims to make Alexa more conversational. Generative AI is designed to learn from data and improve over time.
After the presentation, Amazon executives showcased various capabilities of the service, including food ordering, smart home integration, and video streaming. However, media representatives were not allowed to test the service themselves.
Some developers involved with the service reported that it sometimes provided incorrect answers or lagged for several seconds before completing a prompt. During the demonstration, Panay and other executives had to repeat their requests multiple times to receive responses from Alexa.
Although Alexa launched three years after Apple’s Siri, it helped popularize the use of voice assistants. However, the lack of substantial improvements over the years led to a decline in consumer usage, especially in the current AI landscape.
Apple (AAPL.O) has already integrated its AI features, known as Apple Intelligence, into Siri, while Google (GOOGL.O) revamped its voice assistant using its AI chatbot Gemini.
Alexa is voice-controlled software found in devices like smart speakers, enabling users to ask questions, play music, set timers, and manage home automation by connecting internet-enabled devices.
The new Alexa AI service can respond to multiple prompts in sequence and act as an “agent” by taking actions on behalf of users without their direct involvement. This contrasts with the current version, which typically handles only one request at a time.
Amazon claims there are approximately 500 million Alexa-capable devices in consumers’ hands, making this revamp a significant money-making opportunity for the Seattle retailer. However, it also poses a considerable financial risk if it fails to meet expectations.
Amazon stated that Alexa+ will utilize the best AI model available for specific tasks, leveraging Bedrock, its collection of AI services for experimentation.
Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Echo, acknowledged the contribution of AI startup Anthropic in building Alexa+, confirming a previous Reuters report that Anthropic’s Claude underpins the service.
Amazon has invested $8 billion in Anthropic.
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