Alexa+ Unveiled: Amazon’s AI Assistant Redefines Smart Living

Alexa+ is unveiled alongside new hardware at a New York event, with the latest version of Alexa+ powering the Echo smart speakers and Fire TV devices. Panos Panay, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, said Alexa+ has evolved from simply understanding commands to actively solving problems as generative AI reshapes its role.

The system can orchestrate tens of thousands of third‑party services and devices via a modular “experts” architecture, autonomously tailoring solutions for entertainment, smart home automation, shopping, and schedule management. It also offers enhanced personalization, remembering family dietary preferences and anniversaries, and maintains seamless continuity across Echo devices, the mobile app, and Alexa[.]com.

The standalone Alexa+ subscription is priced at $19.99 per month, though it is included at no additional cost for Amazon Prime members. Beginning next year, Kindle devices will gain two major AI features, Story So Far and Ask this Book, debuting on the Kindle iOS app before expanding to thousands of e-books.