Tech Desk 
Jun 23, 2024
Amazon is preparing a significant change to its decade-old money-losing Alexa service to add a communicative generative artificial intelligence (AI) with two service tiers. It has planned a monthly fee of around $5 to get the superior version.
Reports suggested that eight Amazon employees (recent and former) were approached to discuss this issue; however, the workers shared details on the condition of annomymity as they were not allowed to disclose details of confidential projects.
The company has forced the workers, providing them a deadline till August, to manufacture the latest version of Alexa. Three employees stated, Amazon's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andy Jassy has set a personal interest in looking at Alexa renewed.
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According to a letter issued in April to shareholders, Jassy promised a “more smart and capable Alexa,” without offering additional details.
Moreover, Amazon is likely to modify the release dates and prices depending on Project Banyan's progression.
An Amazon spokeswoman stated: "We have already integrated generative AI into different components of Alexa, and are working hard on implementation at scale — in the over half a billion ambient, Alexa-enabled devices already in homes around the world — to enable even more proactive, personal, and trusted assistance for our customers."
Competing with rivals in generative AI is crucial for the company, especially considering the success of Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, which have captivated users with their chatbots that immediately respond to any query.
According to former Amazon employees, Banyan represents a "desperate attempt" to revive a service that has consistently failed to generate a profit and was unprepared for the rise of competitive generative AI products over the past 18 months.
These employees noted that senior management has told them this year is crucial for the service to demonstrate its potential to generate lucrative business for Amazon.
Alexa is famous for setting timers, quickly providing the weather, playing songs, and answering simple questions. However, Amazon's hopes of boosting e-commerce sales through Alexa have flopped, as users prefer to see products first for easy comparison.
Amazon is reportedly gearing up to change what it refers to internally as 'Classic Alexa.' The newly introduced version will feature AI-powered capabilities, along with another tier that uses more robust AI software for more intricate queries and prompts. However, users will need to pay $5 per month to access this enhanced tier.
