Amazon Plans to Charge Monthly Fee for AI-Powered Alexa: Report

Amazon’s Alexa is in the process of getting an AI makeover, and a new subscription plan, two sources at the tech giant told CNBC. The update has yet to be confirmed, as Amazon declined to comment on its plans for its cloud-based voice assistant. CEO Andy Jassy was reportedly unimpressed with Alexa’s capabilities after joining the company in 2021, and an update would allow Alexa to stay competitive in a market of AI voice assistants. In an April letter to Amazon shareholders, the company said it was expanding generative AI applications across its consumer businesses, including “an even more intelligent and capable Alexa.” Sources said that an AI-powered Alexa would not be included in the $139.99 yearly subscription for Amazon Prime. It’s not yet clear how much an artificially intelligent Alexa would cost for the consumer, but the price of $20 per month was floated, according to a source, which would be the same as OpenAI’s more advanced Chat GPT models.