Amazon’s Alexa is finally going AI. Amazon has unveiled ‘Alexa+,’ an enhanced version of its voice assistant powered by generative artificial intelligence. This upgrade aims to transform Alexa from a basic voice assistant into a more conversational and intuitive AI companion. Alexa+ can engage in more natural dialogues, understanding user tone and context to provide more accurate and context-aware responses.
Interestingly, beyond basic tasks, Alexa+ can handle complex activities such as booking reservations, sending messages, managing smart home devices, and orchestrating events, all through voice commands. The assistant learns from user interactions, remembering preferences, routines, and even dietary restrictions, to offer tailored recommendations and proactive assistance.
Deeper integration with Amazon Music, Fire TV, and Ring devices, allowing users to control playback and get AI-generated video summaries. These new features work best if you’re using Fire TV, Ring cameras, and other Amazon products, making it harder to switch to alternatives like Google Assistant or Apple’s Siri.
Even, for devices equipped with screens, Alexa+ introduces customizable widgets and animations, enhancing user interaction with dynamic visuals. Amazon has completely overhauled Alexa to keep up with the advancements in AI, particularly since the rise of ChatGPT.
“Alexa+ also introduces agentic capabilities, which will enable Alexa to navigate the internet in a self-directed way to complete tasks on your behalf, behind the scenes. Let’s say you need to get your oven fixed—Alexa+ will be able to navigate the web, use Thumbtack to discover the relevant service provider, authenticate, arrange the repair, and come back to tell you it’s done—there’s no need to supervise or intervene,” the company said in a blog post.
Instead of just plugging in a large language model (LLM), the company rebuilt Alexa’s architecture from the ground up. In fact, Alexa now uses a mix of Amazon’s in-house Nova models and third-party AI, including models from Anthropic (an Amazon-backed AI startup).
Speaking of availability, Alexa+ is accessible on existing Echo devices, both with and without screens, as well as through a new smartphone app. While Amazon Prime members receive Alexa+ at no additional cost, other users can subscribe for $19.99 per month. Meanwhile, users will be able to access Alexa+ in a new mobile app (available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store).
Launched in 2014, Amazon’s Alexa continues to dominate the smart assistant space, surpassing 600 million enabled devices as of February 2025. Alexa holds a 66% market share in the US and is available on over 100 million devices across third-party brands like Sonos, Bose, and Lenovo. Alexa+ competes with Google Assistant, Apple Siri, Samsung Bixby, Microsoft Cortana, and other AI-powered voice assistants.
