Amazon's muscled-up voice assistant, Alexa+, has reached a new milestone. A company spokesperson told The Verge that Alexa+ has now crossed one million users. The e-commerce giant introduced Alexa+ earlier this year as its generative AI offering. Why? It's a new trend, and everyone is doing it.
According to the company, Alexa Plus offers more natural and free-flowing conversations than its predecessor. You can speak half-formed thoughts using colloquial expressions, and the AI assistant should be able to understand you and provide an answer.
Announcing its capabilities, Amazon previously said that you will be able to start a conversation on your Echo device and continue it on your phone, car, or computer.
One million may not be a significant number when comparing it with the number of Alexa-enabled devices out there. Amazon revealed earlier this year that there are over 600 million Alexa devices globally.
However, the number of Alexa+ users has increased from 'hundreds of thousands' in the previous month. The user base is not as big as that of other names like Gemini and ChatGPT because Amazon is still offering the generative AI assistant through an Early Access program, available to Prime and non-Prime members who own a compatible Echo device.
We can find social media posts from different users who have been invited to try Alexa+. While there have been positive reviews from some, the road isn't buttery smooth for others. One user claimed that the early access Alexa+ has problems accessing some temperature sensors the previous version of Alexa would.
"I also really dislike how it confidently will tell me something that is incorrect now instead of just saying it doesn't know like it used to tell me," the user added.
The upgraded AI voice assistant will cost $19.99 per month, but is being offered for free to Prime subscribers. Alexa+ started rolling out in the US as part of its early access program.
One reason why Amazon is giving Alexa+ a slow rollout is that the new devices and services chief, Panos Panay, wants to eliminate all the problems related to the generative AI assistant.
Amazon's spokesperson told the publication that the early access program doesn't include features like brainstorming gift ideas, scheduling your next spa visit, ordering groceries hands-free, and jumping to your favorite scene on Fire TV.
The program also doesn't offer the "new browser-based experience at Alexa.com," which would put Amazon's AI assistant in line with ChatGPT and Gemini. These missing features will be added in the coming weeks and months, as per the spokesperson, adding that almost 90% of the features are now a part of early access.
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