Extra invitations to Amazon’s upgraded digital assistant, Alexa+, powered by generative AI, have been steadily rolling out. The service, first introduced in February, now reaches over one million customers, Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. Nevertheless, Alexa+ will not be but publicly accessible.
As an alternative, Amazon has been working by means of its waitlist, sending out invitations to these clients who initially signed as much as check the service when it grew to become accessible. Over the previous a number of weeks, many individuals have shared on social media that they’ve acquired an invitation to strive Alexa+, whose service presents extra pure and customized interactions, sensible residence integration, and expanded capabilities because of AI.
Alexa+ is out there free of charge throughout Early Entry and can later be free for Prime clients. Non-Prime customers will be capable of use the service for $19.99 per thirty days after it publicly launches.
Amazon earlier this 12 months famous that invitations to check out the brand new system would roll out in waves within the months forward. As of Might 2025, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy mentioned that Alexa+ had up to now reached over 100,000 customers, representing solely a tiny fraction of the 600 million Alexa devices that had been offered. That quantity has grown considerably within the weeks since.
Alexa+ represents a severe try by Amazon to create a generative AI expertise for shoppers that it may well finally monetize.
Although Amazon created a marketplace for sensible home-connected, voice-based assistants by means of its Alexa-powered Echo gadgets, it wasn’t able to turn that traction right into a revenue-generating enterprise. In the meantime, Alexa misplaced its shine in newer years as generative AI companies, like ChatGPT, took off. In contrast with modern-day AI, Alexa started to really feel clunky, constrained, and underpowered.
Alexa+ goals to carry the digital assistant new capabilities. The service permits customers to talk with the digital assistant utilizing extra pure language, the place you’ll be able to phrase requests your individual manner. For example, you may inform Alexa, “It’s too chilly in right here,” to have Alexa regulate their sensible thermostat. You’ll additionally extra simply be capable of create routines, search throughout your Ring digicam footage, interrupt or pivot the dialog with the assistant, and extra.
The expertise is extra customized, too, because it saves your preferences and remembers what you want, from favourite songs to recipes and past.
With its generative AI element, Alexa can do issues like summarize lengthy emails you share with the service, create distinctive bedtime tales, generate quizzes from examine guides, make journey itineraries, present summaries of your sensible residence exercise, and reply different questions, much like how an AI chatbot may reply.
Plus, the assistant will probably be in a position that can assist you take sure actions — like shopping for live performance tickets, reserving a dinner reservation, and notifying you when one thing you’ve been watching goes on sale, amongst different issues. Preliminary companions on this characteristic embody OpenTable, Ticketmaster, Uber Eats, Tripadvisor, Grubhub, Yelp, Priceline, Viator, Thumbtack, Atom, Fodor’s, and others.
Whereas in early entry, Alexa+ will initially be accessible on Echo Present 8, 10, 15, or 21 gadgets within the U.S. Over time, it’ll broaden to extra Echo clients, Fireplace TV customers, and Fireplace pill customers.
Customers who have been invited to strive the product are reporting combined outcomes, with some praising the service, noting it’s more advanced than Siri, whereas others mentioned it’s still rough around the edges. (Early reviews agree with the latter.)