Amazon has launched Alexa Plus, a new version of Alexa powered by generative AI. It takes task performance to the next level.
Introduction to Alexa+: A New Era for Digital Assistants
According to Amazon, “Alexa+ is more conversational, smarter, personalised—and she helps you get things done. She keeps you entertained, helps you learn, keeps you organised, summarises complex topics, and can converse about virtually anything.”
Amazon made a big move in improving its digital assistant with Wednesday’s launch. After years of developing generative AI, the company is introducing major updates to Alexa.
Key Features of Alexa Plus: Smarter, More Conversational, and Personalized
With Alexa Plus, Amazon has added advanced AI, making it “a meaningfully smarter AI assistant that never stops learning,” according to the company. It also has new features, including “agentic capabilities,” allowing Alexa to independently search the internet and complete tasks for you behind the scenes.
Alexa Plus now offers a more personalized experience, improving over time. Amazon confirms, “She knows what you’ve bought, what you’ve listened to, the videos you’ve watched, the address you ship things to, and how you like to pay – but you can also ask her to remember things that will make the experience more useful for you.”
It adds, “You can tell her things like family recipes, important dates, facts, dietary preferences, and more – and she can apply that knowledge to take useful action.”
Additionally, users can enhance Alexa’s knowledge by sharing documents, emails, photos, and messages- through a desktop browser, the mobile app, or even via email – for Alexa to remember, summarise, or take action on, explains Amazon.
On this topic, Amazon states, “We built Alexa+ the same way we do any Amazon product – we set out to create something we think customers will love, while also designing it to protect their privacy and security, and providing them with the transparency and control they expect from Amazon.”
It further explains, “For example, we centralise important information such as your interactions with Alexa+ and various settings into the Alexa Privacy dashboard. Built on the secure infrastructure of AWS, Alexa+ brings world-class privacy and security protection to your everyday interactions.”
Amazon will launch Alexa+ in early access next month, starting in the United States and expanding later. It’s unclear if it will come to India. The subscription costs $19.99 (about Rs 1,743) per month, but Amazon Prime members get it for free.
Alexa+ will work with most Alexa devices, with demos mainly using the Echo Show, Amazon’s voice-controlled touchscreen display.
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