Amazon’s subscription-based Alexa+ looks highly capable—and questionable
NEW YORK—After teasing it in September 2023 and reportedly suffering delays, Amazon today announced that its more capable and conversational version of Alexa will start rolling out to US Prime members for free in the next few weeks.
Those who aren’t Prime subscribers will be able to get Alexa+ for $20 a month. Amazon didn’t provide a specific release date but said availability would start with the Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 smart displays.
Amazon is hoping Alexa+ will be a lifeline for its fledgling voice assistant business that has failed to turn a profit. Alexa has reportedly cost Amazon tens of billions of dollars over the years. Although Alexa is on 600 million devices, per remarks CEO Andy Jassy made at a press conference on Wednesday, it’s primarily used for simple tasks that don’t generate much money, like checking the weather. Exacerbating the problem, generative AI chatbots are a new, shinier approach to AI assistants that have quickly outperformed what people could do with today’s Alexa.
