At the last Amazon keynote, generative AI functions for Alexa were presented, which users of Amazon’s voice assistant can try out in the next few months.
• High development costs for Alexa’s AI functions
• Details on the subscription model for Alexa are still unclear
• Alexa not included in Prime subscription
After the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT around a year ago, the big tech companies realized how far behind they were when it came to integrating generative AI modules into their products. That’s why Alexa’s AI capabilities were also the focus of the Amazon keynote. In the future, conversations with Alexa should be possible. As a test, owners of the corresponding hardware should soon be able to “exchange opinions” with the voice assistant, but the actual use of this and other AI-based functions could cost Alexa fans money in the future in addition to existing subscriptions.
Alexa in the subscription model: Start date and design unknown
Nothing is yet known about the specific structure of the Alexa subscription, and the prices have apparently not yet been set. “We don’t have an idea of a price yet,” said Dave Limp, currently responsible for Amazon’s voice assistants, when asked by Bloomberg. “We will talk to customers and learn from them what they find valuable. The Alexa you know and love today will remain free.” The most important thing is to offer customers something with the new Alexa that they are willing to pay money for, says Limp.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Dave Limp, who will only be responsible for Alexa at Amazon until the end of the year, emphasized how high the costs of developing into a generative AI chatbot are. The future CEO of Blue Origin sees Alexa’s presence in millions of households as an advantage over ChatGPT. Alexa is a real AI application, the number of devices which he put at “almost a billion”.
Since the original idea of allowing Amazon customers to purchase products using the voice assistant failed in practice, the AI development of Alexa could represent a way to monetize the Amazon assistant. Because of billions in losses and the uncertainty about the future of the language assistant, Limp’s department in particular had to accept numerous layoffs at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year as a result of the job cuts at Amazon, as various media reported.
The fact that Amazon is trying to convert previously free services into paid subscriptions has become obvious at various points in recent months. The previously free security functions for the home “Amazon Alexa Guard” have been discontinued. Customers who want to continue using these functions must now take out a paid subscription to “Alexa Emergency Assist”. There are also price increases at Amazon Prime. the additional placement of advertising was carried out despite a subscription.
The news that Amazon plans to invest up to four billion US dollars in OpenAI rival Anthropic also illustrates the tech giant’s efforts to gain a foothold in the field of artificial intelligence. The cloud division Amazon Web Services (AWS) will receive preferential access to Anthropic technology, and the AI will predominantly run on the AWS cloud. In addition to Amazon, Google and SAP are also invested in Anthropic.
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