Amazon has begun rolling out Alexa+, its new generative AI-powered assistant, to more than 100,000 early users in a limited preview, months after the company originally scheduled the release for last October.
The retail giant first announced plans for an upgraded, generative AI-powered Alexa during its annual fall hardware event in September 2023, positioning the assistant as a more conversational, context-aware evolution of the original Alexa. Last year, Amazon partnered with Claude AI developer Anthropic to help power the new version of Alexa, after Amazon’s proprietary AI fell short of expectations.
As part of the early access phase, U.S. customers who own an Echo Show 8, 10, 15, or 21 device will be the first to receive Alexa+. Customers with other compatible Echo devices will be notified via email and on-device alerts once the enhanced assistant becomes available to them.
“We will expand early access to more Echo customers over time,” Amazon wrote. “Once you have access and opt-in, Alexa+ will start working across all your compatible Echo devices, Fire TV, and Fire tablets, on your web browser and the Alexa app as they become available in early access.”
Some first-generation Alexa devices, including the first-generation Echo, Echo Show, and Echo Dots, are incompatible with the upgrade.
Alexa+ users can start a conversation on one device and continue it on another, and interact with the assistant through Echo devices or browsers. However, according to a report by the Washington Post, several features, including ordering from Grubhub, brainstorming gift ideas, or generating stories for children, were pushed back because they “don’t yet meet Amazon’s standards for public release.”
The service will be free for Amazon Prime members; non-Prime users can access it with a $19.99 monthly subscription.
Amazon said Alexa+ includes several safety features to address privacy concerns. These include indicator lights and sounds to signal when the assistant is active, physical controls to disable microphones and cameras on Echo devices, and options to delete stored voice recordings and typed interactions.
Alexa+ can read and summarize uploaded documents. However, according to the above report, users are not yet able to delete documents they upload to Alexa+.
The launch of Alexa+ comes as AI developers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta, race to create the next generation of virtual assistants that are more conversational, aware, and capable of handling complex tasks.
Amazon has invested heavily in bringing generative AI to its business and consumer products, including sinking $4 billion into Anthropic in 2023.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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