After more than a year of development, Amazon has unveiled an AI-enhanced version of Alexa designed to enable more natural conversations and simplify interactions with the digital assistant.
During the New York presentation, Amazon's Senior Vice President for Devices and Services, Panos Panay, demonstrated how Alexa+ eliminates the need for special "Alexa language." Users can now speak naturally, and the assistant understands their intent. In a live demonstration, Panay showed how Alexa+ maintains contextual conversations and remembers previous interactions, even understanding and responding to different tones of voice.
Alexa+ will cost $19.99 per month but comes free for Prime members - a strategic move to enhance Amazon's subscription services. The assistant will be accessible through most Echo devices, a redesigned website at Alexa.com optimized for extended use, and a new smartphone app. Early access begins next month.
Enhanced everyday capabilities
The new assistant can handle tasks like ordering groceries and sending invitations while remembering personal details such as dietary preferences and favorite movies for future interactions. The AI-powered system helps with travel research, creates itineraries, provides restaurant recommendations through Yelp, and makes reservations. It can even assist with concert ticket bookings and calendar management.
During the presentation, Amazon showcased enhanced music capabilities, including seamless integration with Amazon Music and the ability to "move" music across different room locations. The system also demonstrated sophisticated media control by connecting multiple services - playing songs through Fire TV and jumping directly to specific scenes in movies on Prime Video where those songs appear.
The new Alexa+ integrates with Ring security cameras and their AI features, allowing users to search video footage through natural language queries. Mara Segal, Alexa Director, demonstrated how the assistant can analyze complex documents, including handwritten notes, schedules, and PDFs, which users can then share via email. Amazon Kids+ subscribers get access to new features like "Stories with Alexa" and "Explore with Alexa."
Alexa+ is a system, not a model
Alexa+ functions also as an agent, coordinating multiple services without constant supervision. Amazon said, it can handle complex tasks like making restaurant reservations through OpenTable, booking Uber rides, scheduling repairs via Thumbtack, and creating original songs with Suno. The system also monitors ticket prices through Ticketmaster and sends notifications when prices drop below specified thresholds.
Daniel Rausch, Vice President for Alexa and Echo, explained that Alexa+ uses Amazon Bedrock to access both Amazon's Nova models and partner models from Anthropic. The system employs specialized subsystems called "experts" that work together on specific tasks. For accurate information, Alexa+ partners with news organizations including Associated Press, Reuters, TIME, and USA TODAY.
While many of these features exist in other chatbots and assistants, Amazon's advantage lies in its established smart speaker ecosystem and Prime membership base. This infrastructure could help Amazon bring AI chatbot capabilities to a broader audience faster than competitors.
