Panos and I talked the day after he announced Alexa Plus, the new AI-powered version of Amazon’s famous voice assistant, and this episode gets pretty deep into the weeds of how

The biggest surprise at Amazon’s press conference last week was the lack of hardware announcements. Traditionally, Amazon announces dozens of new gadgets at its events, but this time, Amazon spent 70 minutes talking about software. Specifically, Alexa Plus, its new generative AI-powered Alexa voice assistant. And that was exactly the right move.

Amazon debuted a more sophisticated version of Alexa on Wednesday that’s more conversational and can handle tasks on your behalf. But in a surprising departure from its usual playbook, the company didn’t announce new Echo devices to go with its revamped digital helper.

Will the new Alexa make sense of your shopping, entertainment, and lifestyle habits to become the first useful, contextually aware, universal assistant?

The AI-powered assistant will be available for $19.99 or for free if you're an Amazon Prime member. The updated assistant uses generative AI and reasoning to help complete tasks. Alexa Plus also remembers facts about you to cater to you specifically.

When will we see new Echo displays and speakers to go with the all-new AI Alexa? Amazon’s CEO just dropped a hint.

Giving Alexa the power of generative AI was already expected to be the star announcement from Amazon -- and it was. During the last Devices and Services event in 2023, Amazon announced a gen AI-powered 'Alexa+' or Alexa Plus and a new user interface coming to an Echo device near you, and the company is now making it more real than ever before.

At the event, Panos Panay, Amazon’s vice president of devices & services, listed off the other things the voice assistant can now do, such as create study plans, text a babysitter and call an Uber ride for a friend. He and other company executives also ...

NEW YORK — The much-anticipated, top-secret name for Amazon’s new voice assistant proved to be almost the same as the old one — just with a plus sign added.

Amazon Alexa’s long-awaited AI overhaul is here, and it’s the biggest upgrade in the history of voice assistants.

Amazon ( AMZN) is breathing new life into its Alexa voice assistant, outfitting the 10-year old helper with generative AI capabilities to better compete with the likes of Google's ( GOOG, GOOGL) Gemini and Microsoft-backed ( MSFT) ChatGPT.

Amazon is aiming to catch up in generative artificial intelligence and to reboot its virtual assistant, which has been leapfrogged by powerful chatbots.