Alexa+, Amazon’s AI assistant, is now available to everyone in the US

Alexa+, Amazon’s updated, AI-powered version of its Alexa assistant, is available to all US customers starting Wednesday. The company said the AI ​​feature will be free for Prime members across devices. Meanwhile, anyone can use Alexa+ for free via the Alexa website or mobile app, with some restrictions.

“We have tens of millions of customers using Alexa+ now, and now we’re going to make it available to all Prime members…Prime members have unlimited access — it’s basically a paid level of access that we’re including in Prime now,” notes Daniel Rausch, VP of Alexa and Echo at Amazon, in an interview with TechCrunch.

Announced last year, Alexa+ is model-agnostic, meaning it runs on a set of Amazon’s own basic models and those of other companies, allowing the assistant to do more than its predecessor’s basic tasks using whatever AI technology is right for the job.

As an AI assistant, Alexa+ can carry on natural language conversations that include follow-up questions and back-and-forth chatting.

In addition to performing smart home tasks, scheduling timers, or providing news and weather, as before, the new assistant can do most of the things other AI-powered chatbots can do — like plan an itinerary, update a shared calendar, find recipes and save them to the library, make movie recommendations, help with homework, explore a topic, and more.

Additionally, integration with services like Ticketmaster, Thumbtack, Uber, Angi, Expedia, Square, Yelp, Fodor’s, OpenTable, and Suno will allow Alexa to perform more complex tasks, like scheduling a dinner reservation or ordering an Uber ride. Amazon has not yet shared user adoption numbers for this “agent” use case (where the AI ​​works autonomously to complete tasks) for the AI ​​Assistant.

During the year-long beta testing period, Alexa customers had the option to try out the AI ​​feature or go back to the previous version. The company told TechCrunch that the option to return to the old Alexa will still be available, but it can’t say for how long. Amazon likely wants more time to improve the AI ​​experience before making it a requirement for users. The percentage of those who opt out is also a key metric to track, but Rausch points out that the number is low, suggesting that most customers aren’t so satisfied with Alexa+ that they give up.

However, Amazon had to work out bugs and address user feedback before this launch. Some beta testers complained that Alexa+ was too chatty, or was interrupted at the wrong times, for example. Others complained about Alexa’s new voice.

Amazon has taken this feedback and made changes over time. For example, the company revised the onboarding experience to have Alexa explain how to change her voice, as some preferred Alexa’s “OG” voice. (This voice is still available as Alexa+ Voice 2, but now uses AI to add more inflections.)

“In the end, we had her use her new version of her old voice, and then come back, just to show it to the clients,” says Rausch, describing the changes the team made to the onboarding process.

In another example, Amazon tried to make Alexa less susceptible to unwanted interruptions. Now, Alexa will ask: “Is this right for me?” When the AI ​​is not sure who is being addressed.

The overall experience is also configurable, Rausch points out. If customers don’t want Follow Mode, for example, which allows Alexa to continue listening after a response, they can turn it off.

When asked if users would be able to change the personality of the AI ​​assistant, as in other AI chatbots, where the AI ​​can be set to be personal, professional, quirky, nerdy, and more, Rausch simply said: “Stay tuned.”

During the beta, Amazon reported positive adoption trends in terms of usage and engagement, with a few customers choosing to back out. Music streams increased 25% after customers upgraded to Alexa+, and more customers are deeply engaging with recipes, a feature that has seen 5x growth.

Overall, customers have two to three times more conversations with Alexa+ than with native Alexa.

While Alexa+ will be free for Prime members in the US, non-Prime customers can choose to pay $19.99 per month for standalone access — a similar price to something like ChatGPT Plus.

Amazon notes that the free trial on web and mobile will have some restrictions, but these restrictions are primarily there to protect against abuse.

“I think we have some great, generous boundaries. We don’t talk about exactly what they are today, but…there are some boundaries.” [limits]Rausch says.

The Alexa+ experience in the US will be available across Alexa devices, including Echo products, Fire TV, Alexa.com, the Alexa mobile app, and Alexa-enabled devices from partners including Samsung, Bose and others, with more to come.