Amazon is upgrading Alexa with generative AI, introducing Alexa Plus. This marks a substantial advancement, promising a smarter, more personalized, context-aware experience for users. Alexa Plus is set to launch on Echo Show devices next month and offers numerous improvements.
“While the vision of Alexa has been ambitious and incredibly compelling, right until this moment, we have been limited by technology,” said Panos Panay, Amazon devices and services senior vice president. Generative AI is changing that. This new version recognizes context and meaning to enable more natural conversations. Users can engage with Alexa beyond the initial wake word, and the system learns from user interactions to tailor responses.
This update allows users to input personal details. For example, a vegetarian user can specify their dietary preference, so Alexa Plus will offer vegetarian options when suggesting restaurants or recipes. It is designed to remember family dietary needs and weekly routines.
Alexa Plus also lets users control smart devices with their voice and analyze information gathered from camera recordings. In a demonstration, Alexa Plus was used to find recordings of someone walking a dog outside a home based on a voice command. Alexa Plus offers integrations with services like Uber Eats, Zoom, Sonos, Wyze, Xbox, Bose, and Plex.
The voice assistant can perform a range of tasks, including booking tickets and finding Uber rides, using data from partnerships with media sources like the Associated Press and Reuters to deliver results when asked about news, sports, or stocks. The system is designed to be model-agnostic, and it selects the most appropriate model for each task. An impressive demonstration showed the system accurately identifying a specific Bollywood song when prompted with detailed search parameters.
In addition to the core upgrades, Amazon is also introducing “Stories with Alexa” and “Explore with Alexa” for Amazon Kids+ subscribers, designed to enhance children’s curiosity and creativity. The new Alexa Plus also includes a new dashboard with updated widgets and animations. Alexa Plus will launch in the U.S. starting in March on Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 devices. It will be available for $19.99 per month, but Amazon Prime members will have free access.
