Amazon CEO reveals new Alexa will work as AI agent
What's the story
Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy has hinted at the development of an advanced version of the company's virtual assistant, Alexa. This new iteration would not just answer questions and manage data but also perform tasks on behalf of users. The revelation came during Amazon's Q3 2024 earnings call where Jassy said, "I think that the next generation of these assistants and generative AI applications will be better at not just answering questions and summarizing, indexing, and aggregating data."
AI overhaul
Alexa's brain is being restructured
Jassy revealed that Amazon is currently restructuring the "brain" of Alexa with a new set of foundation models. They are set to be unveiled soon. The announcement comes a few months after Amazon disclosed its plans to enhance Alexa with generative AI technologies. The company had faced technical difficulties with its existing models and is now reportedly replacing them with those from Anthropic, a firm in which Amazon has heavily invested.
Development hurdles
Challenges and delays in redesign
The redesign of Alexa, internally dubbed "Remarkable Alexa," has not been an easy task. At one point, the unreleased assistant struggled to turn on smart lights and took as long as six seconds to respond to queries. Though initial reports indicated an October launch, the release has been pushed back into 2025, as per Bloomberg. The improved version of Alexa is expected to cost $5-$10/month, with a less capable free plan also on offer.
Revenue concerns
Alexa's financial impact on Amazon
Despite being integrated into over half a billion devices worldwide, Alexa hasn't really boosted Amazon's profits. The Wall Street Journal reports that since 2017, Amazon has lost tens of billions of dollars in its devices business. This performance highlights the challenges the company has been facing in monetizing its virtual assistant technology.