Amazon says 97% of its devices can support Alexa+ | TechCrunch

Amazon offered a bit more insight into how it sees its AI platform competing in the real world at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. Namely, Amazon plans to leverage the extensive footprint its devices already have in the home as well as consumers’ existing familiarity with its Alexa brand.

“Ninety-seven percent of devices we ever shipped can support Alexa+,” noted Amazon Alexa and Echo VP Daniel Rausch in an interview at CES. He said the latest figures Amazon has on hand indicate the company has sold more than 600 million devices, and the “vast majority” will support its revamped AI assistant, Alexa+.

Announced early last year, Alexa+ is Amazon’s future in the generative AI market, offering more expressive voices, access to world knowledge similar to other AI assistants, and AI agents that perform tasks on behalf of the customer — like calling an Uber or ordering food. The company has been steadily rolling out access to the AI platform, with more than 1 million Alexa customers gaining access by last June, and now, “tens of millions” can opt in to upgrade to the AI assistant.

Amazon doesn’t have an exact date for when Alexa+ will be available to everyone; the company is focusing first on bringing the AI to all Prime members.

What Amazon soon has to prove, beyond availability, is whether customers will actually use its AI. That’s where Rausch believes Alexa’s existing footprint will help.

“I think that there’s going to be a whole range of AI out there for customers. I think that Alexa will be one of the foundational assistants,” he said. While he believes there will always be some specialist AIs on the market, like those that focus on one thing, like being a legal assistant, there will be a few “nameable, foundational AIs that are highly capable,” which is where Alexa slots in.

“I think some of the advantages Alexa has is the familiarity of customers, the tens of millions of customers already engaging continuously,” Rausch said. “It’s in the home, ambiently available, in voice, in the most natural interface. I do believe that that’s our opportunity to grow,” he added.

Alexa’s plans for the home come as Apple announced it’s teaming up with Google’s Gemini for Siri, as other AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Claude, compete across a variety of use cases ranging from research to healthcare to coding and more.

Just ahead of CES, Amazon announced a way to access Alexa on the web and a redesigned Alexa app that puts a chatbot-style interface front and center. At the conference, Amazon partners like Samsung, BMW, and Oura showed off their Alexa integrations.

The company also promoted its recent acquisition of Bee, an AI wearable that lets you record conversations and gain insights. Customers can engage with Bee via text or voice chat.

In the future, Rausch says Alexa and Bee will become more integrated. But, he added, Bee has value as its own standalone brand, calling it a “an important and lovable experience.”