Amazon Unveils Alexa+, Powered by Generative A.I.
The New York Times
Amazon is aiming to catch up in generative artificial intelligence and to reboot its virtual assistant, which has been leapfrogged by powerful chatbots.
Amazon’s Alexa is undergoing its biggest overhaul since debuting more than a decade ago.
On Wednesday, Amazon said it was giving Alexa a new brain powered by generative artificial intelligence. The update, called Alexa+, is set to make the virtual assistant more conversational and helpful in booking concert tickets, coordinating calendars and suggesting food to be delivered. Alexa+ will cost $19.99 a month or be included for customers who pay for Amazon’s Prime membership program, which costs $14.99 a month. It will begin rolling out next month.
“Until right this moment, right this moment, we have been limited by the technology,” Panos Panay, the head of Amazon’s devices, said at a media event. “Alexa+ is that trusted assistant that can help you conduct your life and your home.”
With the changes, Amazon is aiming to catch up in generative A.I. for everyday users. While the Seattle company has in recent months made up for lost time in A.I. products and services that it sells to businesses and other organizations, its grip on consumer A.I. products has been narrower. Alexa’s upgrades, which were first teased in 2023, are Amazon’s biggest bet on becoming a force in consumer A.I.
The moves are also an opportunity to reboot Alexa, which has been perceived as having fallen behind other virtual assistants. In recent years, Alexa’s growth in the United States has generally stagnated, according to the research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, with people turning to the assistant for only a few main tasks, such as setting timers and alarms, playing music and asking questions about the weather and sports scores.
At Wednesday’s event, Mr. Panay and other Amazon executives demonstrated how Alexa+ could do those things in a more personalized manner. Alexa+ could identify who was speaking and know the person’s preferences, such as favorite sports teams, musicians and foods, they said. They also showed how a device powered by Alexa+ could suggest a restaurant, book a reservation on OpenTable, order an Uber and send a calendar invitation.
The reality star who rose to fame on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” is being investigated for domestic violence along with the father of one of her children.
A new study found that women who went through so-called premature menopause had 40 percent more fatal and nonfatal heart attacks over the course of their lives.
In a stroke of luck, astronomers saw the comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) break into four or five fragments in November after it passed close to the sun.
New A.I. bots can do more than just chat. They can edit files, send emails, book trips and cause trouble.
The series, “inspired” by the story of a royal dresser later convicted of murder, is getting added attention over the former Duchess of York’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Lawyers for both sides in the federal lawsuit, brought by six medical organizations, are trying to understand the ramifications of the judge’s decision.
Andy Weir discusses his science-fueled novel “Project Hail Mary,” which has been adapted into a film that opens in theaters on Friday.
After years of criticism and financial risk, Palantir, Anthropic and small start-ups are generating rewards from their investments in defense tech.
In a legal filing, the government said it questioned whether the A.I. start-up could be a “trusted partner” in wartime, which led it to label the company a supply chain risk.
Before humanity sent satellites, telescopes, humans and weapons into space, Robert Goddard experimented with the first liquid-fueled rocket on his aunt’s farm.
A draft State Department memo outlines ways the Trump administration may ratchet up pressure on the African country by ending health support “on a massive scale.”
A Florida bill that would have regulated artificial intelligence, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, failed to gain traction after President Trump made it clear he did not want states to rein in the technology.
The series, “inspired” by the story of a royal dresser later convicted of murder, is getting added attention over the former Duchess of York’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.