On Wednesday, Amazon introduced Alexa+, its next-generation personal assistant powered by generative AI. Rolling out in the United States of America over the next few weeks, Alexa+ will be available on devices like the Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21. It is priced at $19.99 per month, though Prime users can access it for free. Customers can also download Alexa+ via the new mobile app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Meet the new Alexa 💙 # pic.twitter.com/H5Mvb8IP7r — Alexa (@AmazonAlexa) February 26, 2025 "Alexa+ is more conversational, smarter, and personalized—and she helps you get things done. She keeps you entertained, helps you learn, keeps you organized, summarizes complex topics, and can converse about virtually anything. Alexa+ can manage and protect your home, make reservations, and help you track, discover, and enjoy new artists. She can also help you search for, find, or buy virtually any item online and make useful suggestions based on your interests. Alexa+ does all this and more—all you have to do is ask," wrote Panos Panay, SVP of devices and services at Amazon, in a blog post. How Alexa+ is different from Alexa Compared to Alexa, the new Alexa+ is said to be more expansive and natural, with the ability to understand half-formed thoughts, colloquial expressions, and complex ideas. Amazon claims that talking to Alexa+ will feel like engaging with an insightful friend. Powered by large language models (LLMs) available on Amazon Bedrock, it also has agentic capabilities, allowing Alexa+ to navigate the Internet in a self-directed way to complete complex tasks. Alexa+ is also said to deliver a personalised experience for individuals by remembering details about them. Alexa+ use cases The new Alexa+ supports full-fledged, natural, back-and-forth conversations, and the AI assistant can be activated simply by saying, "Alexa." Alexa+ can also offer real-time information and news, thanks to Amazon's partnership with over 200 news outlets. It can deliver summarised news, help you remember important details such as anniversaries and birthdays, and even recall key information from documents. Alexa+ will also be integrated into Fire TV, allowing it to jump straight to your favourite scene and help you track content from your favourite artists.
