Amazon announces AI-powered assistant Alexa+ to take on Google Gemini
26 Feb 2025

Amazon has unveiled its latest innovation, Alexa+, at a recent event in New York City.

The advanced version of the popular virtual assistant is powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Panos Panay, Amazon's Devices and Services Chief, described Alexa+ as a "complete re-architecture" of the existing AI assistant.

He acknowledged that despite having an ambitious vision for Alexa, tech limitations had restricted its full potential.

Alexa+ offers enhanced user experience and personalization
Advanced features

Alexa+ aims to deliver an improved experience by answering questions using information from a user's Amazon account. For example, it can answer questions like "How many books have I read this year?"

The improved assistant can also notify users about new concert tickets or help with tasks like making dinner reservations.

Panay stressed the new Alexa knows almost everything about your life, including your schedule, smart home, preferences, devices, people and entertainment.

It boasts visual understanding and adaptive responses
Tech upgrade

Just like other market rivals, Alexa+ has visual understanding capabilities. It can analyze a visual feed through a device's camera and answer questions based on the live video.

This capability was showcased at the event using Echo Show 15's front-facing camera.

Panay also emphasized the upgraded assistant's ability to understand tone and environmental context, adjusting its responses accordingly.

"She's been trained in a couple of different ways, from EQ to humor to understanding," he added.

Alexa+ can remember user preferences and create personalized content
User interaction

Apart from basic tasks like creating quizzes from study guides or drafting travel itineraries, Alexa+ can answer queries like "What's the best pizza nearby?" depending on its "memory" and user preferences.

The assistant also has a visual element on Amazon's Echo Show smart display, where it drives photo galleries and other personalized content.

A new "For You" panel shows timely updates based on your interests and smart home controls.

It integrates with Amazon's smart home ecosystem
Smart integration

Alexa+ is completely integrated into Amazon's wider smart home ecosystem.

You can command Alexa to play music from Amazon Music on a supported smart device that is connected to the same Wi-Fi network, or have a Fire TV device skip to a specific scene in a movie or TV show.

The assistant can even summarize footage from Ring security devices and sift through past video libraries for specific moments.

Alexa+ can process documents and execute actions
Document handling

Alexa+ is also being pitched as a productivity tool.

Users can upload files and documents (even emails) which Alexa will be able to parse and refer to in the future.

The assistant can not only read these documents but also execute certain actions based on their content such as adding information from a document to a calendar, or creating a calendar entry/reminder from information sourced from a specific document/email.

Pricing and availability
Cost

Alexa+ costs $19.99 (₹1,742) per month on its own in the US or offered for free to Amazon Prime members.

This is bundled with access to the Alexa website, where the firm says you can do 'longform work." There's also a new Alexa app to go with the latest assistant.

Alexa+ works on devices such as Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21. Early access for the service will start next month.