Pulse News

**All of the announcements from Amazon’s Alexa Plus event**

by Todd Haselton

Amazon has finally taken the wraps off its AI-enhanced version of Alexa, called Alexa Plus. The new version of Alexa is powered by a mixture of LLMs and integrations that reach across news partners and all kinds of apps and ordering services. You'll be able to use Alexa to add events to your calendar, buy concert tickets, and ask questions about the news. Amazon is making some big promises here, but there's still a lot we don't know. The service won't start rolling out until March, and it sounds like availability will be limited even then.

You can find all of our coverage in the stream below.

**HIGHLIGHTS**

• Amazon is launching Alexa.com and new app for Alexa Plus

• Alexa Plus' AI upgrades cost $19.99, but it's all free with Prime

• Amazon announces AI-powered Alexa Plus

**Amazon is launching Alexa.com and new app for Alexa Plus**

Hello, Jake, what can help you with today?

Here's what Amazon's alexa.com website will look like. Image: Amazon

Amazon is refreshing the alexa.com website and the Alexa mobile app so that Alexa Plus subscribers will be able to use the revamped, AI-powered voice assistant. We don't have many details beyond that, but the website and the app could be handy new ways to interact with the revamped Alexa, which was announced at an event this morning. At the event, Amazon showed how you'll be able to have conversations with Alexa Plus for things like ordering groceries, controlling smart home devices, and even telling you if someone in your house has recently walked the dog by looking at your home camera footage. Amazon also demoed how Alexa Plus could analyze and summarize documents, and perhaps the new website and app will be used to upload that information.

**Alexa Plus' AI upgrades cost $19.99, but it's all free with Prime**

Amazon announced a new version of its smart assistant today. Alexa Plus comes with expanded capabilities, the company appeared to demonstrate, like finding concert tickets on your behalf or ordering an Uber to pick up someone at the airport. The upgraded smart assistant will also make it easier to have more natural conversations with it, but Amazon will be charging users for those new abilities for the first time. Free early access to Alexa Plus will begin in late March 2025 in the United States for customers with eligible Echo Show devices. They'll be notified through email and device notifications once access to Alexa Plus has been granted, but they will have to opt in to using it.

**Amazon announces AI-powered Alexa Plus**

Amazon is finally launching the long-awaited generative AI version of Alexa - Alexa Plus - that, if all goes well, will take away much of the friction that comes with talking to a speaker to control your smart home or getting info on the fly. Some of the new abilities coming to Alexa Plus include the ability to do things for you - you'll be able to ask it to order groceries for you or send event invites to your friends. Amazon says it will also be able to memorize personal details like your diet and movie preferences.

**Amazon Alexa event live blog: all the news from the keynote**

Amazon is set to announce new Alexa features beginning at 10 AM ET this morning and we hope a few devices accompany them. There isn't a way to watch the event remotely, but our team is here in person to bring you all of the updates as they happen. We're expecting Amazon to announce its new AI-powered Alexa, which, according to earlier reports, could cost as much as $5 to $10 per month on top of a Prime membership. Reuters said in June that Amazon has considered the subscription pricing for a complete Alexa overhaul that could allow people to order dinner from services like Uber Eats or help write an email.

**What to expect from Amazon's big Alexa event this week**

Amazon is holding a press event this week, where we expect it to finally launch its "new" Alexa. This could be the beginning of a major shift in how we use generative AI in our homes, or it could be a big disappointment. The latter seems likely, based on the delays and persistent rumors that the voice assistant is struggling with its revamp. But I'm hoping we'll at least end up somewhere in the middle with a smarter, more useful Alexa, if not the "superhuman assistant" Amazon has promised.