A new version of Amazon Alexa may be available soon.
Citing a person “with direct knowledge of the company’s plans,” Reuters reports that Amazon plans to “overhaul its loss-making 10-year-old Alexa service” and introduce a generative conversational AI with a two-tiered service.
According to Reuters, the company is also considering charging around $5 a month for access to the better version.
According to Reuters, Amazon has dubbed the new Alexa “Remarkable Alexa,” and it marks the service’s first overhaul since its introduction in 2014.
Reuters reported that it spoke to eight current and former employees who worked on Alexa, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were “not authorized to discuss sensitive products.”
Three of the people said Amazon has been pressuring employees to have an upgraded version of Alexa ready by the August deadline, and that CEO Andy Jassy has a “personal interest in reviving Alexa.”
“Our vision for Alexa remains the same: to build the world’s best personal assistant, and generative AI offers a huge opportunity to make Alexa even better for customers,” Amazon said in an emailed statement to USA Today.
“We’ve already integrated generative AI into various components of Alexa and are working hard to implement it at scale to the more than 500 million Alexa-enabled ambient devices already in homes around the world, enabling us to provide even more proactive, personal, and trustworthy assistance to our customers. We’re excited about what we’re building and look forward to bringing it to our customers,” the statement read.
Amazon to discontinue air pillows:Amazon announces “biggest reduction in plastic packaging” and phases out air pillows
Amazon previously announced improvements to Alexa.
The company said on its website in September 2023 that generative AI is bringing “Alexa’s North Star” closer to reach.
Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Fire TV, said in a blog post that the company is “previewing new large-scale language models and a set of conversational AI capabilities that will help make Alexa even more intuitive, intelligent, and helpful.”
In a blog post, Rausch wrote that the “more conversational” Alexa is based on “new large-scale language models” that are custom built and optimized for voice interaction.
And in September 2023, outgoing Amazon executive Dave Limp told Bloomberg that he believes there will come a time when Alexa will no longer be free.
“Yes, we absolutely do,” Limp said, “but before we start charging customers for this, and I think we will, it has to be amazing, it has to prove the usefulness we expect from a ‘superhuman’ assistant,” he added.
Jassy also mentioned planned improvements to Alexa in his 2023 shareholder letter, sent on April 11, 2024, calling it “an even smarter, more capable Alexa.”
Amazon announces reduction in plastic packaging
Amazon announced Thursday that it’s changing the way it packages its packages, replacing plastic air pillows with recycled paper, a change the company says is more environmentally friendly and provides the same or “even more” protection.
The change is part of a multi-year plan to eliminate plastic shipping packaging from its North American fulfillment centers.
The company says replacing the roughly 15 billion plastic air pillows used each year with recycled paper will represent “the largest plastic packaging reduction ever in North America.”
Amazon aims to “completely eliminate” plastic bubble wrap in its packaging by the end of the year, according to Pat Lindner, Amazon’s vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging, who added that most, if not all, packages ordered and delivered on Prime Day in July will be packed with paper stuffing.
“We want to ensure that customers receive their items intact, while using as little packaging as possible to avoid waste and prioritizing recyclable materials,” Amazon said in a news release.
Contributor: Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY
Gabe Haouari is a national trend news reporter for USA Today. You can follow him on X. Gabe Haouari Or email me at Gdhauari@gannett.com.
