Recently, Amazon announced that its voice assistant Alexa has officially connected to the big model technology and launched a new feature called Alexa+. This major update marks a key step in Alexa's transformation from traditional smart speakers to multi-functional smart assistants. The launch of Alexa+ not only improves its intelligence level, but also brings users a richer interactive experience.
Alexa+'s subscription costs $19.99 per month, but Amazon Prime members can enjoy this service for free. The annual membership fee of Amazon Prime is US$119, covering a variety of benefits such as video and music streaming. Alexa+ will start trial in the U.S. market in early March, a move aims to build Alexa into the "best partner" for users in the digital world by optimizing the user experience.
Image source: Alexa
In the past, Alexa gradually became unscrupulous in the rapidly developing AI market, and was even regarded as an "outdated product" by the outside world. However, Alexa's capabilities have been significantly improved through access to big model technology. It not only allows for more complex dialogues, but also performs physical operations such as ticket booking and shopping. Alexa+ adopts Anthropic's Claude model and Amazon's self-developed Nova model to achieve multimodal interaction capabilities, further enhancing its intelligence level.
Through newly released apps and websites, users can have in-depth conversations with Alexa, get writing help, and even generate images. These functions break through the limitations of traditional smart speakers and provide users with more possibilities. In addition, Alexa+'s memory ability is also worth paying attention to, which can remember users' preferences and provide more personalized suggestions and services.
Although Alexa once dominated the smart speaker market, its market share has gradually been eroded with the rise of competitors such as Google Assistant and Siri. Although Alexa has sold 600 million units worldwide, its team suffered huge losses in 2022. With Alexa+ launched, Amazon hopes to turn the situation around through technological upgrades, reduce losses and attract more users.
Despite the challenges ahead, Alexa+ demonstrates its potential to reshape the AI assistant market by introducing big model technology. With its strong e-commerce platform and Prime membership system, Amazon is expected to bring more paid users to Alexa+ and promote the resurgence of the smart speaker market.