Amazon: Advanced Alexa to cost a monthly fee
According to a report, Amazon is considering offering a revised version of its AI assistant Alexa for money. This would cost up to 10 US dollars per month.
An improved version of Alexa could cost money per month.
(Image: Shutterstock.com; Phil Lewis)
A revised version of Amazon's AI assistant Alexa is likely to cost money. This was reported by Reuters following discussions with current and former Amazon employees. According to the report, Amazon is considering offering the assistant, which is likely to be called "Remarkable Alexa", for a monthly fee of 5 to 10 US dollars.
Amazon has been working on an improved version of Alexa for months. It was presented for the first time last fall. A new AI model should finally allow Amazon's voice assistant to have more natural conversations with users. During a demo, Amazon showed that Alexa no longer needs to be addressed as "Alexa" in order to engage in a conversation. The voice assistant is also set to develop a stronger personality.
According to the Reuters report, the improved Alexa is planned as an optional extra. This apparently means that Alexa's existing functions will continue to be available free of charge - only the new features could disappear behind a paywall. Reuters points out in the report that Amazon's plans are not final and could change. A spokesperson for the company did not want to comment on the subscription plans in a statement to Reuters.
Development is progressing slowly
A report by Fortune recently showed that the development of the new Alexa is progressing slowly. According to the report, Amazon has not managed to keep up with the AI progress of Meta, Microsoft and Google. Instead, the company, which was once a pioneer in voice assistants with Alexa, now has to catch up. One employee told Fortune that Amazon's voice assistant is in danger of becoming a "digital relic".
Among other things, the existing Alexa system is said to be standing in the way of the development of the new functions: Because the voice assistant should also retain its old features, developers still have to work with the old technology stack, according to the Fortune report. In addition, the various development departments are too isolated from one another, meaning that some counterproductive ideas and suggestions have been submitted to the LLM team behind the AI model.
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