There have been lots of rumors that Amazon has been working on a new version of its long-running Alexa digital assistant to give it some new generative AI chatbot features. There have also been unconfirmed reports that Amazon may charge consumers an extra monthly fee to access this new and improved version of Alexa.
Today, Reuters reports, via unnamed sources, that Amazon is thinking about charging between $5 to as much as $10 a month to access the AI-based version of Alexa.
Alexa first launched in 2014 alongside the company's first lineup of Echo smart speakers. However, this new AI-based version would be the first major revamp of the digital assistant since it went public a decade ago.
Reuters added that the new AI Alexa is being developed under the code name “Banyan" and Amazon has also referred to the new version as "Remarkable Alexa."
As far as when Amazon plans to launch the new AI Alexa, the story says that the company is pushing its development team to get it ready by a deadline of sometime in August. Amazon usually has a major press event to introduce new hardware and software items for consumers in September so that an August deadline would be in line for a product launch.
A spokesperson for Amazon did offer this vague statement to Reuters on these rumors:
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,
By contrast, Microsoft charges $20 a month to access its Copilot Pro AI service, and Google charges $19.99 a month for Google One, which includes access to its Gemini Advanced AI model, among other features.
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