Are you increasing the cost of Amazon Prime, Alexa?
Following months of conjecture, Amazon.com (AMZN) is formally introducing Alexa+, an advancement of its flagship voice-activated virtual assistant, Alexa, driven by generative AI.
Although Amazon Prime members are currently exempt from paying for the service, several analysts have predicted that the new feature may eventually be included in the membership fee.
If you ask the redesigned Alexa+, which was unveiled on Wednesday, questions like “Did someone take out the garbage bins?” or “When was the last time the dog went out for a walk?” it can do things like plan date nights, make travel plans, or jump to a favorite scene in a movie or TV show on Prime Video.
During a product launch event, Amazon unveiled Alexa+ and announced that it will make use of large-language models (LLMs), including those from its partner Anthropic and Amazon’s own Nova models.
According to the firm, Alexa+ will launch in the United States in the coming weeks and will cost $19.99 a month for anyone without an Amazon Prime subscription. Amazon’s Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 models will be among the devices on which the initial deployment will commence.
However, Alexa+ is free if you have an Amazon Prime membership. The annual cost of a Prime membership is $139, or $14.99 each month.
According to Daniel Wagner, CEO of artificial intelligence retail solutions business Rezolve Ai, “this upgrade has the potential to enhance user experiences by providing more dynamic, human-like interactions,” MarketWatch said. “However, as AI capabilities improve, the real challenge is ensuring that these assistants move beyond novelty and deliver real utility.”
He also mentioned the possibility of a price hike for Amazon Prime members as a result of this new function.
“The cost of running advanced AI models at scale isn’t insignificant,” Wagner stated. “If adoption is high and usage increases meaningfully, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Amazon eventually adjust Prime pricing to reflect the added value.”
Amazon did not immediately respond to inquiries about a possible price rise for Amazon Prime.
As the program has developed, Amazon Prime has also expanded to include video streaming and delivery reductions, but the cost has increased. Additionally, as some media businesses have demonstrated with their subscription services, putting new, expensive products behind a paywall occasionally results in future price rises.
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Panos Panay, senior vice president of Amazon Devices & Services, stated at the event, “Although Alexa’s vision has been ambitious and incredibly compelling, up until this moment, we have been limited by technology.”
“We’re moving the world from chatbots to something entirely new,” he stated.
According to Amazon, Alexa+ will also be able to be integrated with other services or apps, such as Netflix (NFLX), Yelp (YELP), Ticketmaster (LYV), GrubHub, and OpenTable.
