Alexa+ Takes a Page From Apple Intelligence With Staggered AI Rollout
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Alexa+ is expected to debut on Monday with a few new features, but it may be months before we see what Amazon's new voice assistant can really do.
As The Washington Post reports, next week's launch will be limited to summoning an Uber or asking what you should cook for dinner. You can also upload documents for Alexa+ to summarize, but you can't delete what you feed into Alexa+ for now, the Post says. The document uploads—from instruction manuals to kids' soccer practice schedules—aim to give Alexa more information about users' lives so it can act as a comprehensive assistant.
At launch, the updated voice assistant will work on newer Echo devices (no first-gen versions or Echo Show 2nd Gen). The Echo Show 15 and Echo Show 21 are the first in line, but Alexa+ Early Access will also roll out to the Echo Show 8 and 10, according to the fine print.
Early access also includes a mobile app experience, where users can "chat with the new Alexa on mobile, get personalized recommendations, and manage your home on-the-go," Amazon says. Eventually, you'll be able to summon Alexa+ on the web and via Fire TVs and tablets.
When Early Access ends, Alexa+ will become part of Prime or $19.99/month on its own.
"Features will be released on a rolling basis as Alexa continues to get smarter and more capable every day," Amazon says. "Alexa may not get everything right, and we value feedback from everyone who participates. Just say, 'Alexa, I have feedback.'"
This revamped Alexa promises a more humanlike conversational flow—no more rigid "Alexa voice," as Amazon's head of devices, Panos Panay, said at last month's reveal. Whether it works as expected remains to be seen.
Other features in the works include the ability to order takeout on Grubhub after talking through dinner options with Alexa+ and identifying family members on the device's camera, the Post says. At the launch event, Panay showcased camera recognition by asking Alexa+ to access his home's Ring camera to confirm if his daughter had walked their dog that day.
This gradual rollout of AI features mirrors what Apple is doing with its AI platform, Apple Intelligence. However, this strategy has left customers confused about what features are available and on which devices.
A group of iPhone 16 buyers are suing Apple for false advertising since Apple Intelligence features did not launch until a month after Apple's flagship devices hit stores. And even then, it only included a handful of marginally helpful AI tools and a barebones Siri update.
As Amazon preps for a larger Alexa+ rollout, meanwhile, it turned off the ability for users to store their Echo device recordings locally. Now, all that data will go to Amazon's servers to feed "generative AI features that rely on the processing power of Amazon's secure cloud."
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