Amazon Alexa+ AI assistant now available free for Prime members »

Amazon has rolled out Alexa+ (free if you already have Prime) and shared details like how usage is up 2x.

From Amazon News:

With an entirely new architecture powered by large language models—from both Amazon Nova and Anthropic—Alexa+ is significantly more powerful, and customers are using it in completely new and different ways. They’ve moved from simple, formulaic requests to much deeper, more complex interactions—they’re streaming more music and having deep conversations about discographies, genres, and artists Alexa recommends just for them; they’re settling dinner table debates with a quick question, exploring complex topics, discussing the news of the day, and having deeper ongoing conversations with Alexa (sometimes over days, because Alexa+ can remember context). They are also interacting with Alexa+ in more places, chatting on the go in the Alexa app, and doing deeper research, planning, and generating content at Alexa.com—overall, customers are interacting with Alexa+ more than twice as much.

We’re finally leaving behind simple voice assistants and getting into the era of proper smart assistants.

View the original.

Posts You Might Like

What’s new in Shortcuts in iOS and iPadOS 17.2, macOS 14.2, and watchOS 10.2 »
Apple has published release notes for Shortcuts fixes in iOS 17.2, including a number of bugs I submitted and new Health improvements for Siri.
Indie App Spotlight: ‘Within Reach’ helps you track your weight loss journey »
Developer Matt Corey has released Within Reach, a weight-loss app targeted at people taking GLP-1 medications – and it includes Shortcuts support.
If Apple wants its headset to win, it needs to reinvent the app »
David Pierce of The Verge takes a look at Apple's approach to apps in lieu of a rumored headset – and how the ecosystem needs to change.
Siri to gain deep Shortcuts integration in iOS 18, Apple spending millions per day on conversational AI »
According to a report from The Information, Apple is investing heavily in some combination of language models and Shortcuts to augmenet Siri's capabilities – read the summary from 9to5Mac.