Amazon Teases Big Alexa AI Upgrade Tomorrow, But 73% of Users Have Privacy Concerns, CNET Survey Finds
A recent CNET survey found, however, that consumer sentiment is having trust issues with smarter smart home devices. Over 2,000 US adults were asked questions about how they feel about voice assistants in devices like Amazon Echo.
Home Voice Assistant Usage: Half of US adults (50%) have used a home voice assistant this year (since Jan. 1). Amazon Alexa is the most popular among US adults (27%).
AI: Nearly 3 in 4 (73%) home voice assistant users have privacy concerns about AI integrations on smart home voice assistants and more than half (56%) would not be willing to pay an extra subscription fee for additional AI features.
Trust around AI features slightly differs by brand among all US respondents, with Amazon (Alexa) being the most trusted (27%). Gen Z (61%) and Millennials (56%) are the most trusting of brands regarding AI in voice assistants.
Among those that have used a voice assistant so far this year, "ask a quick question" is the most common functionality (64%), followed by speakers, music and entertainment (49%), set timers (42%), set reminders (36%), and make calls to others (29%).
How will Amazon's Alexa handle consumer resistance to AI and smart home? We could see new versions of Alexa Emergency Assist, a new approach to Alexa Skills, more smart home integrations -- or even (fingers crossed) new Amazon Echo devices. Our earlier coverage noted that reports show that Amazon is interested in charging users a subscription for these new features, which, according to our survey, more than half of survey respondents said they would not pay anything extra for it.
The company is keeping details of the announcement a secret for now. But we'll dive deeper to what our consumer survey found and what it all means for Amazon's event on February 26th and Apple's expected leap into the smart home world later this year.
Amazon starts Alexa's revival ahead in the numbers, but not by much. Around half of U.S. Adults have used a home voice assistant since January 1st, 2025 and Alexa ranked at the top with 27% reporting they activated the voice assistant. Apple's Siri wasn't far behind at 21%, with Google Assistant/Gemini in third at $18%.
Interestingly, those numbers reverse a bit when looking only at Gen Z adults. While millennials and Gen X prefer Alexa, Gen Z (at 27%) has a slight preference for Apple's speedy Siri, which is also set for AI upgrades this spring. That indicates Alexa may have some catch-up work to do if it wants to appeal to a younger crowd.
But when was the last time you used a voice assistant for something complex in the first place? If you're like our surveyed users, you probably stick to simple tasks: The most common activity for US adults was asking a quick question, followed by playing music or entertainment and setting timers/reminders. Using smart home commands was farther down the list, with only 23% of people saying they had ever controlled a smart home with voice assistants.
That, of course, is something Amazon wants to change. Much like Google's Gemini reveal, we expect Amazon to focus on more complex use cases, encouraging Alexa users to hold longer conversations, complete more complex tasks or home routines -- and probably shop more easily on Amazon. That brings up an issue on privacy our survey found.
Overall, people aren't sure what to make of more AI. When we asked people if they'd use a voice assistant more often with new AI features, the highest response was "meh" with 34% neither agreeing or disagreeing with the idea. Only 34% of active users reported interest in using voice assistants more if they got intelligence upgrades.
In good news for Amazon, voice assistant users also trusted Alexa and Amazon the most when it came to AI (27%) followed by Apple Siri (24%) and Google Assistant (23%) juggling for second place. But 50% of respondents said they didn't trust home voice assistants at all, and a combined 73% were concerned with privacy risks when using AI features.
Those are tough hurdles for Amazon to jump with tomorrow's event. Depending on what the company announces, it may also be worried by another statistic: Only 23% of adults said they'd pay a fee for more AI features in voice assistants, while 56% said they would not pay anything extra. That doesn't bode well for an Alexa AI subscription unless it can really prove value beyond a glorified integration with Amazon Prime.
CNET will be present at Amazon's announcement to hear and see exactly what they have mind and what Panos Panay, head of Amazon's Devices and Services team, has to say, so expect more news soon. When Alexa's AI features hit, we'll follow up with lots of tests and results as well.
Until then, we're very curious how Amazon can differentiate Alexa's AI upgrades with what Google has shown with Gemini and what Apple plans with Siri -- and just how focused they are on making Alexa a money-printing machine. Stop by tomorrow to find out.
Survey Methodology:
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,376 adults, of which 1,308 have used a home voice assistant since Jan. 1, 2025. Fieldwork was undertaken February 18-20, 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18-plus).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Apple announces additional $100 billion in US investment, following Trump iPhone tariff threat
Apple (AAPL) announced plans to invest an additional $100 billion in US manufacturing commitments ahead of a press conference scheduled with President Trump at the White House Wednesday. The move follows Apple's prior $500 billion investment in US spending, which includes working with partners to build an AI server plant in Texas. Apple says that the $100 billion announcement includes its new American Manufacturing Program (AMP), which the company says will incentivize global companies to build critical components in the US. The tech giant says its first AMP partners will include Corning, Coherent, GlobalWafers America, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Amkor, and Broadcom. As part of the investment, Apple is making a $2.5 billion commitment to produce all of the cover glass for its iPhones and Apple Watches at Corning's Harrodsburg, Kentucky, manufacturing facility. The two companies will also work to open an Apple-Corning Innovation Center at the plant to help develop and engineer materials and next-generation manufacturing platforms for future Apple products. Apple also says it has entered into a multi-year agreement with Coherent to produce lasers for its Face ID feature for the iPhone and iPad. The company is also touting what is says is a end-to-end American silicon supply chain, which includes sourcing silicon wafers from GlobalWafers in Sherman, Texas, for use in American chip factories, working with Applied Materials to increase production of semiconductor manufacturing technologies, and getting semiconductors from Texas Instruments. Apple is further teaming up with Samsung to work on new chip making technologies at its plant in Austin, Texas, as well as with GlobalFoundries and Amkor for bring more chip manufacturing and packaging to the US, respectively. Apple's news comes after the Trump administration began pressuring the tech giant to manufacture its iPhone in the US, going so far as to threaten to impose a 25% tariff on the devices if the company didn't comply. Apple's announcement also comes as the company prepares for a new 25% tariff on goods destined for the US from India. That's in addition to an existing 25% levy Trump previously said he would apply to the country's products. Apple builds the majority of the iPhones headed to the US in India, after diversifying its supply chain beyond China following the COVID-19 pandemic. The company still produces iPhones for the rest of the world in China. Trump has repeatedly criticized Apple for building its iPhones abroad, with the administration saying the company should instead bring its manufacturing facilities to the US. In May, Trump said he "had a little problem with Tim Cook," while discussing the company's decision to build US iPhones in India. But industry experts say doing so would be a Herculean task even for Apple, due to a lack of available skilled workers and limited supply chain resources in the country. Even if those factors weren't an issue, it would take years to complete construction of an iPhone plant, at which point Trump would no longer be in office. During its most recent quarterly earnings report, Apple said it took an $800 million hit due to existing tariffs and anticipated an additional $1.1 billion in related costs in its current quarter. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley.
Engadget
13 minutes ago
- Engadget
Apple to invest another $100 billion into the US to avoid tariffs
Apple plans to invest an additional $100 billion in the US, the company announced on Wednesday. The investment follows President Donald's Trump's previously announced plans to raise tariffs on India by an additional 25 percent (bringing the total tariff to 50 percent) for purchasing oil from Russia. Apple relies heavily on manufacturers in India to create the iPhone, so adding to its already $500 billion investment in the US is likely a way to avoid being impacted by the tariffs. "Today, we're proud to increase our investments across the United States to $600 billion over four years and launch our new American Manufacturing Program," Apple CEO Tim Cook shared in a statement. "This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America. They produce components that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and we're grateful to the President for his support." In a statement to Bloomberg before the announcement, a White House spokesperson suggested the new investment would "help reshore the production of critical components to protect America's economic and national security." The Trump administration has previously called for Apple to make the iPhone in the US, something CNN reports is difficult to downright impossible. In February, Apple said it's original $500 billion investment plan would go towards building Apple Intelligence servers in the US, and that the majority of the new jobs the funding would provide would be focused on R&D, silicon engineering, software development and AI and machine learning. As part of this additional investment, Apple says it's deepening relationships with components makers in the US, like Corning, Coherent and Amkor. Apple's current strategy for dealing with Trump is similar to how it handed the President during his first term. In 2019, Apple CEO Time Cook and Trump "opened" a Mac Pro factory in Texas. The factory had been up-and-running since 2013, but the President was pleased by the optics of making a deal. Apple is a trillion-dollar company that can afford to spend a few billion avoiding tariffs, but it also likely planned to increase investment in the US anyway to keep up with competitors like Google and Microsoft. Its entirely possible the company is just packaging its spending in a way that flatters the President's ego. Developing...
Los Angeles Times
13 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
A rally for Apple leads Wall Street higher
NEW YORK — A rally for Apple led Wall Street higher on Wednesday as U.S. stocks reclaimed more of their sharp losses from last week. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 81 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2%. Apple alone accounted for more than a third of the S&P 500's gain. It rose 5.1% ahead of a White House event where it was expected to announced an increase to its U.S. investments of an additional $100 billion over the next four years. Trading elsewhere on Wall Street was mixed following a jumble of profit reports. McDonald's and Shopify rose following their latest updates, while Super Micro Computer tumbled after its earnings and revenue came in below analysts' expectations. Walt Disney Co. fell after its earnings beat forecasts but its revenue fell short. Worries are still high that President Donald Trump's tariffs may be hurting the economy, but hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a parade of stronger-than-expected profit reports from U.S. companies have helped steady the market. Companies are under pressure to deliver bigger profits to justify the big gains their stock prices have made since the U.S. market hit a low point in April. The S&P 500 is only a bit below its record, which was set late last month, and the big rally fueled criticism that the broad market has become too expensive. McDonald's climbed 3% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected. Offerings tied to the 'Minecraft' movie proved to be a hit for the restaurant chain. Shopify jumped 22% after the company, which helps businesses sell on the internet, said it made more in revenue last quarter than expected. Analysts also said the company's forecast for revenue in the current quarter suggests the strong trends are continuing. Arista Networks leaped 17.5% after the networking company delivered a bigger profit for the latest quarter than expected. Its forecast for revenue in the current quarter also topped forecasts. They helped offset an 18.3% slump for Super Micro Computer, which gave back some of the huge gains the server maker has made recently. Super Micro came into the day with a nearly 88% gain for its stock so far this year, but it reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that fell short of what Wall Street had penciled in. Disney dropped 2.7% after its profit beat forecasts but its revenue fell short. Analysts said investors may have been looking for Disney to boost its profit forecast by a bigger amount. The NFL also announced that it had entered into a nonbinding agreement with Disney's ESPN, which will give the sports broadcaster the NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and the rights to distribute the RedZone channel. The NFL will get a 10% stake in ESPN in the proposed deal. Chip company Advanced Micro Devices fell 6.4% after its profit for the latest quarter only matched analysts' expectations. Analysts said the company's financial forecasts for upcoming results also looked solid, but that may not have been enough for investors after its stock had already soared 44.3% for the year so far coming into the day. All told, the S&P 500 rose 45.87 points to 6,345.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 81.38 to 44,193.12, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 252.87 to 21,169.42. In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.22%, where it was late Tuesday. It's well below where it was last week, before Friday's weaker-than-expected report on the U.S. job market ignited worries that Trump's tariffs are pushing employers to hold back on hiring. That report has traders on Wall Street betting heavily that the Federal Reserve will need to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September. Such cuts can give the economy and investments prices a boost, but they also can push inflation higher. In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly across much of Europe and Asia. Choe writes for the Associated Press.
