According to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post, Amazon is gearing up to launch a significantly enhanced version of its Alexa personal voice assistant in October to counter the latest AI voice assistant competition from rivals. The new version of Alexa will introduce several new features, including an AI-generated news summary feature called "Smart Brief," but users will need to subscribe to access this upgraded assistant.
The documents reveal that Alexa's new features are designed to enhance user engagement, particularly in improving the accuracy and security of political news. Compared to AI assistants from competitors like Microsoft and Google, Alexa will be more actively involved in discussions on political topics. Despite past criticisms that Alexa struggled to accurately answer questions about political news, Amazon's internal documents indicate that the AI-generated news summary feature has become one of the most in-demand features.
Additionally, the documents suggest that the subscription fee could be as high as $10 per month, while the classic version of Alexa will continue to be offered for free. This update not only enhances Alexa's conversational abilities but also expands its applications in e-commerce and children's entertainment through "Project Banyan."
Amazon's management plans to finalize pricing, subscription structures, and product names within this month. Meanwhile, Amazon also intends to launch a web-based product called Project Metis, aimed directly at competing with OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. These initiatives indicate that Amazon is attempting to regain market dominance through cutting-edge AI technology.