Amazon unveils Alexa Plus, its brand new AI-infused voice assistant

• Amazon has announced an AI-powered version of its Alexa voice assistant
• Alexa Plus is more conversational and can carry out complex tasks for you
• It'll be available as a subscription for $19.99 a month, but will be free for Amazon Prime members

Live from its HQ in New York City Amazon is currently hosting its Alexa event where we’ve all been expecting the launch of a brand new Alexa voice assistant. And lo and behold, it’s finally here – Amazon has revealed Alexa Plus, its new AI-infused voice assistant. Just as it says in our list of predictions, Alexa Plus will have a monthly subscription fee of $19.99. This is the only catch with Amazon's new AI voice assistant, but Amazon Prime members will get free access.

The announcement marks the biggest upgrade for the voice assistant since its launch in 2014. And from Vice President of Devices and Services Panos Panay’s demonstration at Amazon’s devices event, it looks rather impressive. Need a concierge? Sous-chef? Assistant? House manager? Alexa Plus seemingly has it all covered.

One of the biggest improvements in Alexa Plus compared to the classic Alexa voice assistant is its impressive ability to hold conversations, which Panay seamlessly trialled live on stage at the event.

He asked “I'm a little bit nervous about it, but we're about to do live demos. What do you think can go wrong?”. Alexa Plus responded with “With so many eyes on you, it's natural to feel a bit nervous. As for what could go wrong, let's just say Murphy's Law is probably sharpening his pencil right now”. So it’s confirmed; Alexa Plus has a great sense of humor.

So what can Alexa Plus do? Powered by AI models from Anthropic and Amazon Nova, it looks impressively versatile. Some of the demos included smart home control, making restaurant reservations and connecting to your calendar to add events or send invites to friends. The AI assistant also has vision powers, which means it can scan documents and recall information later.

Naturally, there's lots for kids too. Ademo video showed Alexa Plus answering questions and creating stories, which it was able to do before – but this time it includes AI-generated images, too.

Between the time when it was first teased and now, Amazon has had ample time to improve its then-shoddy capabilities and its live demonstration of Alexa Plus shows how far the company has come. In addition to Alexa's new and improved conversational abilities, the consumer experience factor has clearly been a priority for Amazon, and Alexa Plus is already proving itself to respond seamlessly to requests and having its ear closer to the ground when managing your personal schedule.

One of the more impressive demonstrations showed at the event was Alexa Plus' smarts when it comes to remembering context. As showcased by Panay, if you tell Alexa you're a vegetarian or have certain dietary requirements, it will take that into consideration when recommending places to eat or when you ask for recipes.

Though it's a little disappointing to see Echo devices not getting a mention at the Alexa event, the new Alexa Plus voice assistant packs enough new features and personality that we can forgive Amazon for the latter. The next steps will be testing out Alexa Plus for ourselves, an exciting venture which we'll no doubt keep you in the loop with.

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