I Saw a Live Demo of Alexa’s Big New AI Update
Amazon’s Alexa Amazon announced Wednesday that it would not only go back and talk and do basic orders, but also do more.
Amazon launches a new generation of Alexa at an event in New York. Next-generation assistants are powered by generative AI and promise a smarter, easier to talk, approachable and most importantly proactive-virtual assistant.
“She is smarter than ever, but she’s also approachable,” Amazon said during the event.
Panay says the new generation of Amazon Alexa, called Alexa Plus, can book dinners, set reminders on the calendar, order and send gifts to loved ones, and learn your daily activities over time and like and dislike it to better serve you and the people in your family, among other changes.
In a live demo, the new Alexa told Panay: “I’m not just an assistant, I’m your new best friend in the digital world. I have jokes, cleverness and real desire to make your life easier and more fun.”
Panay stressed that the new generation is “things that can actually be taken”.
Alexa Plus can also control your smart home by monitoring security cameras, dimming the lights, or turning them on or off at certain times of the day, playing music and controlling a smart TV. During the presentation, Alexa also played a song and was asked to be able to move from various speakers in time, and then because it was a movie (the shallowness of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, the shallowness of a star), Panay asked Alexa to play scenes from the movie in a movie on a smart TV on stage.
“The new Alexa knows almost all the instruments in your life,” Panner said. He also showed how it was classified by his home security videos and determined that his dog last walked or received delivery at home. Panay said Alexa continues to be popular, and he said that in 2024, people use Alexa 20% more than in 2023.
Alexa Plus is $20 per month, but it’s free if you’re a major member. Panay said Alexa Plus will begin rolling out. With Alexa Plus, you will also use the upcoming Alexa.com.
However, according to the recent CNET Investigationonly 23% of participants said they would pay more for the other AI features of the voice assistant, so it’s only time to determine if this is blocking Alexa Plus, as many Alexa owners are also major members.
Read more: The new report says smart device cyber attacks doubled in 2024: Are you worried?
Alexa and Echo Vice President Daniel Rausch showed off the Alexa Plus and said the update is not only used with Amazon products. It will be paired with partners including Ubereats, Spotify, Dyson, Ticketmaster, Grubhub, Opentable and more.
Andy Jassy made the stage in a speech in New York on February 26, 2025.
Before Panay came to the stage to release the Alexa upgrade announcement, Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy emphasized Amazon’s AI use already implemented AI, e.g. RufusShopping Assistant on Amazon, Amazon bedrock. Jassy said Amazon is currently using or building more than 1,000 generated AI programs.
“We only dreamed of new experiences we had dreamt before would be possible,” Jassy said, adding that the company used AI to “solve real customer problems.”
Jassy also laughed at more Amazon updates when “drone will eventually deliver packages to customers in less than an hour.”
