Amazon CEO Hints At Enhanced Alexa With Generative AI Capabilities

According to TechCrunch, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has hinted at an improved version of the company's Alexa assistant that could take actions on behalf of users. During Amazon's Q3 2024 earnings call, Jassy mentioned that the next generation of assistants and generative AI applications will not only answer questions and summarize, index, and aggregate data but also take actions. He expressed confidence in Alexa's potential to excel in this area. Jassy also revealed that Amazon is re-architecting Alexa's brain with a new set of foundation models, which the company plans to unveil soon. Amazon initially announced its plans to revamp Alexa with generative AI technologies in 2023. The company is reportedly replacing its own Alexa-powering models with those from Anthropic, a company in which Amazon is a major investor, due to technical challenges. During the redesign process, the upgraded assistant, internally code-named “Remarkable Alexa,” reportedly faced issues such as struggling to turn on smart lights and taking up to six seconds to respond to queries. The new Alexa is expected to cost between $5 to $10 per month, with a less capable free plan also available. Although some reports suggested an October release, the launch appears to be delayed. Despite being integrated into over half a billion devices worldwide, Alexa has not significantly contributed to Amazon's financial performance. The company has reportedly lost tens of billions of dollars in its devices business since 2017, as noted by The Wall Street Journal.