Amazon says 97% of its devices can support Alexa+

Amazon offered a little more insight into how it sees its AI platform competing in the real world at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Specifically, Amazon plans to leverage the broad footprint its devices already have in the home as well as consumers’ existing familiarity with its Alexa brand.

“Ninety-seven percent of the devices we’ve ever shipped can support Alexa+,” Amazon Alexa and Echo VP Daniel Rausch noted in an interview at CES. He said that Amazon’s latest available numbers indicate that the company has sold more than 600 million devices, and that the “vast majority” will support the renewed artificial intelligence assistant, Alexa +.

Announced early last year, Alexa+ is Amazon’s future in the generative AI market, offering more expressive voices, access to global knowledge similar to other AI assistants, and AI agents that perform tasks on a customer’s behalf — like calling an Uber or ordering food. The company has been steadily expanding access to its AI platform, with more than a million Alexa customers gaining access by last June, and now tens of millions can sign up to upgrade to the AI ​​assistant.

Amazon doesn’t have a specific date when Alexa+ will be available to everyone; The company is first focusing on bringing AI to all Prime members.

What Amazon has to prove soon, beyond availability, is whether customers will actually use its AI. This is where Rausch believes Alexa’s existing footprint will help.

“I think there’s going to be a whole bunch of AI for customers. I think Alexa is going to be one of the key assistants,” he said. While he believes there will always be some niche AI ​​systems on the market, such as those focused on one thing, such as working as a paralegal, there will be a few “what can be called foundational AI systems that are highly capable,” which is where Alexa is at.

“I think some of the advantages that Alexa has is the knowledge of customers, the tens of millions of customers who are already interacting on an ongoing basis,” Rausch said. “It’s available in the home, it’s available in audio, it’s available in the most natural interface. I think this is our opportunity to grow,” he added.

Alexa’s plans for the home come as Apple announced it’s teaming up with Google’s Gemini for Siri, competing with other AI-powered chatbots, like ChatGPT and Cloude, across a variety of use cases ranging from research to healthcare to programming and more.

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 partners like Samsung, BMW, and Ora showcased their Alexa integrations.

The company also touted its recent acquisition of Bee, an AI wearable that lets you record conversations and get insights. Customers can interact with Bee via text or voice chat.

In the future, Rausch says Alexa and Bee will become more integrated. But he added that Bee has value as its own standalone brand, calling it an “important and beloved experience.”