Last year, David Limp, Amazon’s former senior vice president of devices and services, hinted at charging for a more capable version of Alexa — and now we have an idea of how much it might cost. A report from Reuters suggests that Amazon’s AI-supercharged version of Alexa could cost anywhere from $5 to $10 per month on top of your Prime membership. Sources tell Reuters that Amazon is aiming to launch the new Alexa in August, marking a “desperate attempt” to overhaul the voice assistant. The paid version of Alexa might not require users to keep saying “Alexa” when talking to the assistant. It will reportedly be capable of completing multiple requests in one prompt, such as writing a short email and ordering takeout from Uber Eats. As reported by Reuters, the more advanced Alexa could also offer the ability to “learn” from users and create routines, like turning a customer’s coffee pot on when their alarm goes off. This tracks with last month’s report from CNBC, which said Amazon plans on rolling out a subscription for Alexa that doesn’t come with Prime. That doesn’t mean Amazon will leave out the free version of Alexa. As noted by Reuters, Amazon still plans on replacing the basic version with one that offers new generative AI features, but it will put a more advanced Alexa behind a paywall. The AI Alexa will let customers ask for shopping advice, such as what kind of hat and gloves they should buy for a mountain climbing trip, as reported by Reuters. That’s similar to the kind of information Rufus, Amazon’s AI shopping chatbot, can provide. When reached for comment, Amazon pointed The Verge to the statement it provided to Reuters: “We have already integrated generative AI into different components of Alexa, and are working hard on implementation at scale — in the over half a billion ambient, Alexa-enabled devices already in homes around the world — to enable even more proactive, personal, and trusted assistance for our customers.”
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