Rumors began circulating earlier this year claiming that Amazon was working to improve Alexa by giving it new generative AI features. Since then, we haven't heard much about it until very recently, when CNBC spoke to people familiar with the development of the project. The new report provided information on what the company intends to do with the updated Alexa, how much it may cost, and why Amazon is doing this.
CNBC's sources were quite reserved. They didn't reveal exactly what the AI will be capable of, but they did mention the tech giant's goals. Amazon wants its developers to create something “that will hold up amid the new AI competition,” referring to companies like ChatGPT. The company's CEO Andy Jazzy was reportedly “disappointed” with modern Alexa and he's not the only one who wants the assistant to do more. The development team is reportedly concerned that the model is currently simply an “expensive alarm clock.”
To facilitate the new direction, Amazon reorganized major parts of its business within the Alexa team, shifting focus toward achieving general artificial intelligence.
AGI is a science fiction concept, but it is the idea that an AI model will one day be able to match or surpass the intelligence of a human being. Despite its lofty goals, Amazon appears to be starting small by wanting to create its own chatbot with generative capabilities.
Sources claim: “Amazon will use its own large language model, Titan, in the Alexa update.” Titan is only available to businesses as part of Amazon Bedrock. You can generate text, create images, summarize documents, and more for businesses. users, just like other AIs. Following this line of thinking, the new Alexa could offer the same functions to regular users and non-entrepreneurs.
Potential costs
Previous reports have said that Amazon plans to charge people for access to the supercharged Alexa; however, the cost or structure of the plan was unknown. Now, we learn that Amazon plans to launch the Alexa update as a subscription service completely separate from Prime, meaning people will have to pay more to try out the AI, according to this new report.
Apparently, there has been a debate about exactly how much to charge. Amazon has yet to set the monthly fee. One of the sources told CNBC that “a price was set at $20” at one point, while someone else suggested reducing costs to “single-digit dollars.” [amounts].” In other words, less than $10, which would allow the brand to weaken its rivals. OpenAI, for example, charges $20 a month for its Plus plan.
There is no word on when the Alexa update will be released or even formally announced. But if it comes out, it could be the first chatbot accessible through an Amazon smart speaker like the Echo Pop.
We reached out to the company to see if it wanted to make a statement about the CNBC report. We will update this story if we receive a response.
Until then, check out TechRadar's roundup of the best smart speakers for 2024.
