Alexa just got a long-awaited AI upgrade.
Amazon unveiled Alexa+, its latest voice assistant, at an event Wenesday morning in New York City.
Among the additions are AI-powered features. The new Alexa can provide dinner recipes, text friends and family, and send out party invitations, among other things, Panos Panay, Amazon's senior vice president of devices and services, said at the event.
Alexa+ can also create bedtime stories for kids using generative AI, Amazon said. The assistant will also work with tens of thousands of partner companies for specific tasks, such as calling a car through a ride-hailing app or booking a restaurant reservation. Amazon has also reached licensing deals with news publishers to feature their content, BI reported.
The assistant will be free for Amazon Prime members. Outside of Prime, users will have to pay $19.99 a month for Alexa+. That's about the same cost as ChatGPT Plus.
Users will start to have access in the new few weeks, with Alexa+ hitting certain Echo Show devices in the coming months, Amazon said.
AI has also eliminated "precise 'Alexa' language," Amazon said in a rundown of the changes. The assistant now picks up on users' tone of voice. For example, on Wednesday, Alexa+ appeared to reassure Panay when he sounded nervous about being onstage with hundreds of people watching.
"Alexa+ learns from you and the more you use it, the more personalized it gets — understanding everything from your favorite entertainment to your family's dietary preferences, allergies, and weekly traditions," Amazon said.
Alexa+ is available on Echo devices with screens as well as through voice-only devices and a smartphone app, Amazon said.
Amazon has been working on a voice assistant that would have integrations with other companies, such as Uber and Ticketmaster, Business Insider reported last year.
But progress has been slow, BI reported. Teams working on the revisions previously wanted to have them ready in time for this past holiday season, but they have had to delay the launch until this year.
In tests, the new Alexa gave answers that were too long or didn't directly answer users' questions, BI reported.
Adding features that customers want to use, AI or otherwise, matters right now for Amazon's voice assistant business, especially as Apple works on improving its AI capabilities in tandem with its Siri voice assistant.
Amazon has faced slowing demand for Alexa despite early success last decade. It's not alone: Usage for Apple's Siri and Google Assistant has also declined since 2020, according to data from EMARKETER, a sister company of BI.
