Alexa Plus: The new Amazon AI assistant explained

Alexa+ is Amazon’s biggest fundamental reimagining of its voice assistant since the dawn of the Echo age. It adds generative AI to Alexa’s smart home foundation, which is supposed to make for better-flowing conversation, smarter context and the ability to draft, not just recall short answers.

Amazon has been pushing it out through an Early Access program, making it available on additional Echo speakers and displays as new devices are introduced. If you’ve caught wind of the news and are curious what’s new, here is a succinct, expert overview of what Alexa+ will be, how it will work and when you may expect to see real-world app announcements on pricing, devices and practicality.

What is Alexa+ and how the upgraded assistant works

Alexa+ is an upgrade to Alexa that can generate human-like speech and store preferences so it can handle multi-turn conversations, providing new information and keeping track of the context more flexibly. Amazon executives have described it as learning “the rhythm of your life,” leveraging memory and context to minimize repetitive prompts and help follow-ups sound more conversational.

Under the hood, Alexa+ is a system that Amazon runs on its own specialized hardware, built with models from Amazon’s Nova framework as well as from partners like Anthropic. The result is a system that can plan and reason over steps, rather than just retrieve facts. Think less scripted Q&A, more personal assistant that writes, summarizes and organizes your chores at home.

Key features you’ll notice when using Alexa Plus

• More natural conversations: You can talk more like yourself, ask follow-ups without repeating yourself and mix topics within the same conversation. Alexa+ remembers context so it knows what “that” or “the second one” is referring to.
• Memory and personalization: It can store preferences, such as your coffee order, thermostat settings or kid’s bedtime routine, to deliver faster and more appropriate responses over time. Memory can be modified, and you can recall or remove it.
• Content creation: Not just facts, Alexa+ writes to-do lists, meal plans, packing lists and summaries. It can read and interpret documents you supply — a school calendar or HOA rules, for example — and then answer in plain English when you have questions.
• Smarter home control: When the assistant has an additional layer of logic, routines get more powerful. You could try, “When the soccer schedule shows an away game, remind me the night before to charge the car,” and Alexa+ connects the dots.

Pricing and availability for Alexa Plus and devices

The plan is for Alexa+ to be available as an Early Access release on a selection of Echo devices, before launching as a paid subscription that will cost $20 monthly. Amazon says it will be available for free with a Prime membership. A classic version of Alexa will still be available for people who don’t want to subscribe, but it won’t have the new generative features.

After you activate Alexa+ on a compatible Echo, it works across your supported Echo speakers and displays, the Alexa app, Fire TV, as well as Fire tablets. Web access via Alexa.com is planned. Not every Echo model is included, however — if you own older devices, make sure to check compatibility.

Devices and the new Echo Show experience

Amazon has synced the software with refreshed hardware, new Echo speakers and updated Echo Show displays. Cleaner widgets and better integration with Nintex for SharePoint are the result of a revamped interface. For the larger displays, such as the Echo Show 15 and Echo Show 21, there will also be an adaptive display that shows glanceable information from across a room before transitioning to a personalized view as you get closer — much like the newer Echo Show 8.

Alexa+ has tighter integrations on Echo Show for Ring homes with cameras and subscriptions, surfacing smarter alerts, live views and context-aware suggestions directly on screen.

How it stacks up against other AI assistants

The field is now thickly crowded with generative AI helpers such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot (which runs on OpenAI), Google’s Gemini and Apple’s Siri upgrades. Alexa+ builds on Bedrock-hosted models to catch up in capabilities including natural dialog and reasoning, while capitalizing on Amazon’s home turf advantages: microphones in several rooms, deeper smart home integrations, and a ubiquitous wake word.

Independent studies from companies including CIRP and Edison Research have for some time reported Echo as the most popular smart speaker line in the U.S., with about two-thirds of households owning an Echo device. Convert that installed base and Alexa+ could become the household AI for millions — especially with Prime bundling.

Real-world examples of Alexa Plus in daily use

• Document Q&A: Upload a school calendar and ask, “Which days are half-days this month, and set reminders for the night before.” Alexa+ reads the file, answers questions and sets reminders.
• Family planning: “We have eight people coming on Saturday. Create a shopping list for three $100 vegetarian sides,” then, “Sub out the salad and make something kid-friendly.” It comes up with the plan and Alexa+ updates the list.
• Home automations: “When my HOA allows outdoor watering again, turn on the garden schedule at 6 a.m. on weekends.” Alexa+ follows the rule change and modifies the schedule.

Privacy and controls for memory and voice data

Generative AI assistant apps are most effective if they remember specifics — but memory comes with privacy concerns. Amazon offers settings to review, edit or delete Alexa+ memories, manage recordings of your voice and adjust data-sharing preferences. For sensitive tasks, you should either turn off memory for that request, or use the app to check on what’s in the cache.

The bottom line on Alexa Plus and who should try it

Alexa+ transforms Alexa from voice-command-and-control remote to conversational planner that can read, reason and customize. The cost is in line with most premium AI offerings, though Prime availability and a good number of devices mean it’ll be plenty attractive to many households. If you already have an Echo device, this is the most significant upgrade to date — and the first Alexa that actually feels like a digital assistant, not just a voice button.