Amazon offered more insight into how it sees its competing AI platforms in the real world at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. That is, Amazon plans to use the extensive footprint of devices already in the home as well as consumer familiarity with the Alexa brand.
“Ninety-seven percent of the devices we’ve ever shipped can support Alexa+,” Amazon’s Alexa and Echo VP said Daniel Rausch in an interview at CES. He said that the latest figures available from Amazon show that the company has sold more than 600 million devices, and that “the majority” will support the modified AI assistant, Alexa +.
Announced early last yearAlexa + is Amazon’s future in the generative AI market, providing a more expressive voice, access to world knowledge similar to other AI assistants, and AI agents that perform tasks on behalf of customers – like calling Uber or ordering food. The company continues to open access to its AI platform, with more than 1 million Alexa customers gaining access by last Juneand now,”tens of millions“can choose to upgrade to an AI assistant.
Amazon doesn’t have an exact date when Alexa+ will be available to everyone; the company’s first focus is on bringing AI to all Prime members.
What Amazon needs to prove, beyond availability, is whether customers will use AI. That’s where Rausch believes Alexa’s existing footprint will help.
“I think that there will be a whole range of AI out there for customers. I think that Alexa will be one of the basic assistants,” he said. While he believes there will be some specialist AIs on the market, like those that focus on one thing, like being a legal assistant, there will be some “nameable, basic AIs that are very capable,” which is where Alexa slots in.
“I think some of the advantages of Alexa have been familiar to customers, tens of millions of customers have participated continuously,” Rausch said. “It is at home, ambiently available, in sound, in the most natural interface. I believe that we have an opportunity to grow,” he added.
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Alexa’s plans for home come as Apple announced it will partner with Google Gemini for Siri, as other AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Claude, compete in various use cases ranging from research to healthcare encode and others.
Just before CES, Amazon announced a way to access Alexa on the web and a redesigned Alexa app that puts a chatbot-style interface front and center. At the conference, Amazon’s partners were happy Samsung, BMW, and Oura showing Alexa integration.
The company is also promoting its new acquisition Bee, an AI wearable that lets you record conversations and gain insights. Customers can engage with Bee via text or voice chat.
In the future, Rausch said Alexa and Bee will become more integrated. However, he added, Bee has value as its own independent brand, calling it “an important and cherished experience.”