Amazon's AI-powered Alexa Plus rolls out, sparking mixed reactions

Amazon’s ambitious generative AI overhaul, Alexa Plus, is finally reaching a broader audience, with over a million users now using the supercharged voice assistant.

Following its quiet late March launch and overcoming more than a year of delays, Amazon has confirmed that the rollout to Echo smart speakers and displays is accelerating, with wider availability planned for the summer.

The new Alexa Plus promises a more conversational experience, capable of remembering details, recalling information from documents (via email), managing calendars and seamlessly moving music between rooms. It can also book Ubers, find event tickets, create Alexa Routines by voice, and customize smart home widgets on Echo Show devices.

Eventually, the service will cost $19.99 a month, though it will be free for Amazon Prime members.

However, the gradual rollout, attributed to Amazon devices head Panos Panay’s insistence on ironing out bugs, means that not all announced features are live yet. Key features such as asking Alexa to jump to specific Fire TV scenes, hands-free grocery ordering, browser access and personalized music creation are still pending and expected to ship “over the coming weeks and months.”

Early user reactions are varied. Many testers have praised the natural, free-flowing conversations and the ability to handle complex requests, including coordinating calendars and controlling multiple smart home devices. Conversely, a “dividing” factor has been Alexa Plus’s new voice, which some users describe as “obnoxious” despite its more natural inflection.

Crucially, significant bugs in smart home control have been reported, with some users finding the Plus version unable to control devices that worked perfectly with the previous Alexa.