Amazon (AMZN, Financials) announced the launch of an AI-powered version of its Alexa voice assistant, Alexa+ at an event on Tuesday.
The revised assistant has multi-modal capabilities including bookings, ticket buying, SMS, smart home gadget management.
Integrating comedy and improved intelligence, Alexa+ is meant to provide a more conversational and customized experience. Most Alexa devices are compatible with the assistant, which also links with other services like Ticketmaster, Uber, OpenTable, and Zoom. It also interacts with Ring smart home cameras and other connected gadgets.
Alexa+ now processes PDFs, text, and handwritten notes in addition to its voice, user interface, and smart home widget.
Amazon charges $19.99 a month for the membership; members of Amazon Prime get free access. Early service access plans call for starting in March 2025.
Running on Amazon Bedrock, Alexa+'s AI model maintains a model-agnostic approach while access to Anthropic's models and Amazon Nova models is ensured.
New child-friendly features include Stories with Alexa, which creates personalized stories, and Explore with Alexa, which answers questions and presents puzzles for kids.
Adding "millions" of new consumers per month, Amazon noted a 20% rise in Alexa use in 2024 compared to 2023. With "tens of millions" of consumers interacting with Rufus AI, Amazon's shopping assistant, CEO Andy Jassy said the firm keeps extending its AI offers. Additionally in development are over 1,000 generative artificial intelligence applications for the firm.
