Amazon recently announced that its voice assistant, Alexa, is officially integrating a large language model, launching a new feature called Alexa+. This update transforms Alexa from a simple smart speaker into a more versatile and intelligent assistant, marking a significant step in its evolution.
Alexa+ has a subscription fee of $19.99 per month, but it's free for Amazon Prime members. An Amazon Prime membership costs $119 per year and includes various services such as video and music streaming. The Alexa+ trial will begin in early March for US users. This change signals Alexa's increased focus on user experience, aiming to become "your best new friend in the digital world."
Image Source: Alexa
Previously, Alexa was often seen as an "old product," struggling to keep pace in the rapidly evolving AI market. However, with the integration of a large language model, Alexa's capabilities will be significantly enhanced. It will not only handle more complex conversations but also perform real-world tasks such as booking tickets and making purchases. Alexa will utilize Anthropic's Claude large language model and its own Nova model to achieve multimodal interaction capabilities.
Through newly released apps and websites, users can converse with Alexa, get writing assistance, and even generate images, extending its functionality beyond a traditional smart speaker. Alexa+'s memory capabilities are also noteworthy, as it can remember user preferences to provide personalized recommendations and services.
Although Alexa once led the smart speaker market, its market share has gradually eroded with the rise of competitors like Google Assistant and Siri. Despite selling 600 million devices globally, Alexa's team suffered significant losses in 2022. With this upgrade, Amazon hopes to use Alexa+ to reverse this trend, reduce losses, and attract more users.
While challenges remain, the introduction of large language model technology gives Alexa+ the potential to reshape the AI assistant market. Amazon hopes to leverage its e-commerce platform and Prime membership system to attract more paying users for Alexa+ and revive the smart speaker market.