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In brief: We've seen plenty of previous reports claiming that Amazon is close to launching a subscription-based version of Alexa powered by generative AI. It now appears that the service will finally land in October, just a few weeks before the US election. It's believed that users wishing to subscribe could end up paying as much as $10 per month.
In May, it was reported that a more conversational version of Alexa will launch later in 2024. It followed Amazon's September 2023 announcement that Alexa would be receiving an artificial intelligence upgrade as generative AI companies' tools such as ChatGPT increasingly made Alexa look antiquated.
The new Alexa service won't be included in Amazon customers' $139 Prime subscription, and the current free version of Alexa isn't changing.
There were reports in January that 15,000 customers had been testing the new Alexa, which was codenamed Remarkable Alexa. The tests were said to have yielded disappointing results, with some of the AI's answers not meeting expectations.
According to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post, the new Alexa will finally launch in October after being delayed. It will include a new "Smart Briefing" feature that provides daily, AI-generated summaries of news articles based on a customer's preferences.
The new Alexa is said to be more conversational and charismatic compared to the current version, which shouldn't be too hard. The documents say the assistant will recognize the individual voices of customers and ask people questions about themselves so they can refer to this information later. An example is Alexa asking someone about their family, finding out they have dietary requirements such as celiac disease, and taking this into account later when suggesting meal recipes.
The new Alexa will also be tightly integrated into Amazon's shopping experience, which the company hopes will boost sales and help it recoup some of the costs. Customers will, for example, be able to ask the AI assistant what colors an item comes in, the ingredients, and if there are any deals on specific products. It's also hoped that the advanced Alexa will offer a "safe and moderated" experience for children.
The big question now is how much Amazon will charge for its AI-powered Alexa. It was previously believed to be $20 a month, the same as ChatGPT Plus. It's unlikely many people would have been willing to hand over that amount, but the Washington Post writes that the new assistant could cost as much as $10 per month. That's obviously better, but subscription fatigue means that these days, services that charge recurring fees need to offer plenty of benefits if they want customers to stick around.