Amazon to Launch Redesigned AI Voice Assistant 'Alexa' in October

Providing News Summaries and Discount Event Information
Subscription Service Available for Up to $10 per Month

The world's largest e-commerce company, Amazon, will launch a completely revamped artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistant 'Alexa' in October, according to a report by The Washington Post (WP) on the 27th (local time).

According to internal documents obtained by WP, Amazon plans to unveil the new Alexa with conversational AI capabilities in mid-October. The new Alexa goes beyond the existing model, which was limited to setting timers, reminders, and providing weather information, by answering complex questions based on a large language model (LLM). It also recognizes individual users' voices and predicts customer needs by understanding food preferences, weekend schedules, and more.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

In particular, a feature called 'Smart Briefing' is included, providing AI-generated news summaries daily according to users' preferences. Until now, Alexa has avoided giving precise answers to political questions such as "Who won the 2020 U.S. presidential election?" WP explained, "News summaries are among the most requested features by Alexa users," adding, "It can help form users' daily habits and encourage repeated engagement."

Additionally, a shopping assistance feature has been added. It is known to be significantly enhanced compared to Amazon's previously released shopping chatbot 'Loophus.' Users can ask about product details and receive notifications from Alexa when there are discount events.

This upgrade to Alexa is the first since its initial launch in 2014. Although a major overhaul was announced last September and was originally scheduled for release next month, it has been delayed by about a month. The new Alexa will be available as a subscription service costing up to $10 per month. Amazon's management plans to make final decisions on pricing, subscription structure, and product name within this month. The existing version will remain free to use.

The Alexa service is a business that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has paid close attention to. However, despite selling more than 500 million devices since Alexa's first launch, it has not escaped chronic losses. Amazon plans to recover the technology development costs incurred so far through this subscription service and enhanced shopping features.

As Amazon's upgraded Alexa launch approaches, competition surrounding conversational AI assistants is expected to intensify further. Earlier, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, unveiled the conversational AI model 'GPT-4o' in May. Google is also planning to release 'Project Astra,' which has similar features, within this year. Apple, preparing for a new product launch event next month, is expected to showcase its voice assistant 'Siri' equipped with generative AI on its latest devices, including the iPhone 16, at the event.