Amazon seized the CES stage to go after two sizzling categories at once: AI-driven chatbots and design-first televisions. The company introduced Alexa.com, a web-based chatbot bestowed atop its overhauled Alexa+ assistant; and launched Ember Artline, a matte-finish QLED TV that was targeted directly at Samsung’s hit The Frame.
Alexa.com pitches actionable AI vs ChatGPT
Alexa.com brings to your house a conversational interface familiar from what you’d find on ChatGPT or Gemini, with one big difference: It’s wired into your home and your shopping existence. Besides answering questions, Alexa+ can control things like smart light bulbs and thermostats, monitor security cameras and kick off chores such as adding calendar events or creating grocery lists, which it also has the smarts to automatically populate in your cart for Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods orders. That combination of rationality and action in the world is Amazon’s strength.
Early access launches with a Prime membership; after that, Alexa+ is included with Prime or for $19.99 a month without it. That pricing puts it in the premium AI tier that OpenAI, Google and Microsoft are playing in—ChatGPT Plus and Copilot Pro are both priced at $20 a month, while Gemini Advanced is included with Google One’s AI plan. Amazon’s pitch is easy to understand: The AI you use at home for controlling music, lighting and the like resides in your browser now, but with the muscle to do tasks end-to-end.
A dedicated smart home window, built right into the chat, enables often-repeated device control to be completed faster than issuing voice commands over and over again. Live camera feeds, a door that unlocks and a thermostat to adjust? You can access it without ever leaving the thread. You can upload files for context—travel PDFs to be brushed up on right before leaving, or vet records remembered when you actually need them. It is a pragmatic move toward “agentic” agents that don’t just answer but also do.
The larger strategic lever is Amazon’s installed base. The company has stated that there are now hundreds of millions of Alexa-enabled devices out in the wild. That footprint, plus Prime, gives Alexa.com a ready-made readership that independent chatbots have to earn the hard way. The devil will be in trust and transparency: Consumers will demand clear levers to control the data they leave with their assistant, over document handling abilities for the assistant and devices that gain permissions as assistants move from advice to automation.
Faster, more personal Fire TV interface update arrives
Accompanying the chatbot is an updated Fire TV interface, meant to make it easier to access material. The homepage can now pin 20 favorite streaming apps (up from six), and category tabs will put titles from those services you already pay for at the top. A long-press of the Home button calls up a quick-access panel for common controls. Visually, the update replaces sharper corners with softer ones, and introduces new gradients and more breathable spacing.
The redesigned home section is gradually coming to the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen), and the Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series initially, before rolling out more broadly across partner sets from brands including Hisense, Insignia, Panasonic and TCL.
The accompanying Fire TV mobile app is also up for a new look. If Alexa+ is the concierge, Fire TV is the lobby—cleaner, faster, and built to get you to a show with fewer taps.
Ember Artline takes on Samsung’s The Frame
Amazon’s new Ember Artline is a lifestyle TV designed to disappear in plain sight. The 4K QLED panel itself has a matte screen to cut glare, and when this TV is off, it doubles as wall art. Magnetically attachable frames are available in 10 finishes, ranging from walnut and teak to graphite and matte white; one frame comes included inside the box. Sizes begin at 55 inches and 65 inches, too, with pricing from $899—an aggressive opening gambit that undercuts many like-for-like options.
Art mode draws from Amazon Photos or a curated library of 2,000 works. What’s more, you can upload a couple of pictures of your room and Alexa+ will suggest art that suits your decor. Inside, Ember Artline is Dolby Vision and HDR10+ compatible with Wi‑Fi 6. Far-field mics make for a hands-free Alexa+, and there’s presence-sensing that automatically switches the Ambient Experience on as you walk in, off as you leave.
The news lands in a category that Samsung has been defining for years—The Frame can be found on the wall of design-minded buyers across the world, with its own art marketplace and matte anti-glare technology. LG recently tipped its interest in that space, as well. Amazon’s advantage will probably be cost and integration: Competitive picture specs, a lower starting price, and Alexa+ and Fire TV already baked in. The company is also renaming its TV range under the Ember brand to provide a clearer umbrella for its sets.
Why Amazon’s push into chatbots and TVs matters now
AI assistants are all rounding into the same set of core capabilities, so differentiating them now comes down to two things—what they can do in the physical world for you and how seamlessly they stitch into your daily screens. Alexa.com straddles both, including home control and calendars and shopping, while Fire TV and Ember Artline use the TV as yet another surface for ambient computing rather than simply a blank slab.
If Amazon can deliver on privacy, reliability, and sound, the question about the next version of Alexa won’t be a mere smart-speaker sidekick or answer receptacle; rather it will be a complete AI that gets things done. And, with Ember Artline, Amazon is not only getting in on the art-TV trend: It’s signaling that the living room itself is a major battlefield where design, content discovery and AI are going to increasingly converge.
