Amazon launches Alexa+ as a $19.99 subscription service
Amazon has unveiled Alexa+, an overhauled version of its virtual assistant which it hopes users will use to share “just about anything”.
Rapid recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have caused huge growth in software capable of natural-sounding conversations, with ChatGPT and DeepSeek among the most-downloaded apps worldwide.
Amazon is attempting to tap into this, with Alexa+ claiming to be ‘your new best friend in the digital world’.
“Alexa knows almost every instrument in your life, your schedule, your smart home, your preferences, the devices you’re using, the people you’re connected to, the entertainment you love and uses many of the apps you use, a lot of the services you need,” Panos Panay, Amazon’s head of devices and services, told guests at an exclusive launch event in New York.
The virtual assistant will be available on Amazon devices as far back as the second-generation Echo Dot, which launched in 2017. And for devices with screens, it will be available as far back as the first generation Echo Show 8, which launched in 2019.
It will be included for free in Prime subscriptions when it launches from March – but to non-members it will cost $19.99 (£16) per month, with the UK price yet to be announced.
