We have been for a long time speculation throughout the year that Amazon will start charging for access to Alexa, and we may finally have a timeline. Reuters reports The online shopping giant will launch a premium version of its smart digital assistant in October. It will be called “Remarkable Alexa,” and the Anthropic Claude AI will power it.
According to several people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters, Amazon plans to charge $5-$10/month for the Anthropic-powered Alexa. This should not be surprising if you remember that last year, Amazon pumping a cool $4 billion for the company. Standard Alexa will continue to work for free for users as a hands-on help with Echo devices for things like turning lights on and off, cycling through playlists, and setting schedules. You won’t have to pay for those which is basic the tasks you are already doing now.
For those willing to pony up the monthly subscription, the “amazing” version of Alexa will tap into Claude’s AI ability. It will continue the conversations built on previous questions, such as when interacting with Google Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. With its AI connected to the big retailer, Amazon will simplify the checkout section to help you shop without touching the interface. Imagine planning your packing list for a trip, and Alexa Remarkable suggests shirts, pants, and shoes to buy to help you with the upcoming weather.
It will be interesting to see what Amazon offers as a valid reason why you would pay for the remarkable Alexa in the first place. It’s already confusing why this unreleased capability exists alongside Rufus, another Amazon chatbot launched earlier this year help with shopping by chat. At least with AI suites like Google’s Gemini, there’s the promise of deep integration with a Google or Gmail account. Amazon has a lot of services to offer, although it is difficult to imagine how Amazon can be separate what it does with Alexa is remarkable in what is already there.
For example, I’d love to hear more about how this could work with Amazon’s medical partnership. Imagine talking to a chatbot, and it realizes that your medical questions have passed its paid stage (or coding—whatever you want to call it) and connects you to your doctor at One Medical instead. Maybe I’m giving an opinion here, but it seems worth the monthly subscription rather than paying for a personal purchase that you can sit down and do yourself. Amazon is also planning to include the amazing Alexa for better home control as this is where it makes its bread and butter in real time for virtual assistants. It is doubtful that it will have a large market share as smart home adoption continues plain.
When reached by Reuters for comment, an Amazon spokesperson said the company “will continue to use various brands… Anthropic declined to comment. No one has confirmed what’s next for Alexa yet, but we expect to hear more Amazon’s upcoming unannounced event in September.
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