Amazon launches Alexa Plus: AI-powered voice assistant with new features

Amazon has unveiled a significant upgrade to its Alexa digital assistant with new AI features, now called "Alexa+," which will cost $19.99 monthly but will be free for Amazon Prime members, according to CNBC's recent report detailing Amazon's strategy to monetize its voice assistant technology. The revamped service, powered by generative artificial intelligence, was announced by Panos Panay, Amazon's senior vice president of devices and services, at an event in New York. This major overhaul comes as Amazon faces pressure to upgrade Alexa following the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, which made traditional voice assistants seem outdated, as highlighted by CNBC in their analysis of the competitive AI landscape.

The new Alexa+ can perform complex tasks such as purchasing concert tickets, ordering groceries, booking dinner reservations, and giving personalized recipe suggestions for specific household members.

Alexa+ has undergone a "complete re-architecture" according to Daniel Rausch, Amazon's vice president of Alexa and Fire TV, who explained that the upgrade wasn't as simple as connecting an LLM to the original Alexa system. CNBC's coverage emphasized that the subscription fee could help Amazon offset the high costs associated with AI development, potentially making the digital assistant a profitable business after years of losses. The service uses a range of advanced training models from various providers, including Amazon's own Nova models and those from AI startup Anthropic, which Amazon has backed financially.

According to Amazon's announcement published on their About Amazon site, Alexa+ will begin rolling out in the U.S. in the coming weeks, initially to households with Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 devices. The company's official statement emphasized that the best Alexa+ experience will be available on touchscreen Echo devices. 

Amazon's announcement highlighted that the system connects to thousands of services and devices, enabling it to take action for customers through "Experts" and deep knowledge integration. This allows Alexa+ to coordinate multiple services seamlessly, such as making dinner reservations and booking transportation.

Amazon's technical explanation revealed that Alexa+ harnesses Amazon Bedrock to access state-of-the-art large language models, with the company emphasizing its model-agnostic system that selects the optimal model for each task. Based on information from Amazon's own press materials, the system's knowledge foundation is supported by partnerships with major news organizations including Associated Press, Reuters, TIME, USA TODAY, and Politico. This enables the assistant to provide quick, accurate responses across numerous topics from financial markets to sports statistics. 

Amazon describes the core of this architecture as "experts"—specialized systems working together to handle specific tasks, allowing Alexa+ to deliver more natural and comprehensive assistance.