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 1,000,000 customers, Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. Nonetheless, Alexa+ shouldn’t be but publicly obtainable.
As a substitute, Amazon has been working by way of its waitlist, sending out invitations to these prospects who initially signed as much as check the service when it turned obtainable. 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 personalised interactions, sensible residence integration, and expanded capabilities due to AI.
Alexa+ is accessible at no cost throughout Early Entry and can later be free for Prime prospects. Non-Prime customers will have the ability to 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 stated that Alexa+ had thus far reached over 100,000 customers, representing solely a tiny fraction of the 600 million Alexa gadgets that had been bought. That quantity has grown considerably within the weeks since.
Alexa+ represents a critical try by Amazon to create a generative AI expertise for shoppers that it could finally monetize.
Although Amazon created a marketplace for sensible home-connected, voice-based assistants by way of its Alexa-powered Echo gadgets, it wasn’t in a position to flip that traction right into a revenue-generating enterprise. In the meantime, Alexa misplaced its shine in newer years as generative AI providers, like ChatGPT, took off. In contrast with modern-day AI, Alexa started to really feel clunky, constrained, and underpowered.
Alexa+ goals to convey the digital assistant new capabilities. The service permits customers to talk with the digital assistant utilizing extra pure language, the place you possibly can phrase requests your individual approach. As an example, you may inform Alexa, “It’s too chilly in right here,” to have Alexa regulate your sensible thermostat. You’ll additionally extra simply have the ability to create routines, search throughout your Ring digital camera footage, interrupt or pivot the dialog with the assistant, and extra.
The expertise is extra personalised, 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 would possibly reply.
Plus, the assistant might 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 function embody OpenTable, Ticketmaster, Uber Eats, Tripadvisor, Grubhub, Yelp, Priceline, Viator, Thumbtack, Atom, Fodor’s, and others.
Whereas in early entry, Alexa+ will initially be obtainable on Echo Present 8, 10, 15, or 21 gadgets within the U.S. Over time, it’ll broaden to extra Echo prospects, Fireplace TV customers, and Fireplace pill customers.
Prospects who’ve been invited to strive the product are reporting blended outcomes, with some praising the service, noting it’s extra superior than Siri, whereas others stated it’s nonetheless tough across the edges. (Some early opinions agree with the latter.)
It’s price stating that Alexa+ shouldn’t be at the moment totally launched, nevertheless it’s getting shut. Amazon says practically 90% of the options it beforehand introduced have since shipped.
