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In short: After revealing a brand-new version of Alexa called Alexa+ in January, Amazon began rolling out a program for early access to the AI-driven digital assistant that is generative six weeks ago. But does anyone use it? According to a recent report, it appears that there are no Alexa+ users. At least none who can be verified.
Amazon confirmed in February that it was releasing a new Alexa Assistant with integrated generative AI abilities. The company promised that Alexa would be able order groceries, takeouts and book reservations as well as perform complex, multistep tasks.
Amazon began rolling out Alexa+ six weeks ago to select users. However, its initial capabilities in this early-access program were limited to just a few specific task. These included ordering an Uber and uploading files for the AI’s summary and gathering information about users, thereby improving their abilities as an assistant. But Reuters The publication writes that its search for Alexa+ customers has been unsuccessful. The publication searched dozens news sites, YouTube and TikTok as well as BlueSky, Meta, BlueSky’s Instagram, Facebook and Twitch, as well Amazon’s Twitch. Even reading reviews of Echo devices at Amazon was fruitless.
Reuters only found claims that people had used Alexa+ on Reddit. Two redditors claimed to have used the service. They did not provide any proof and their identities were not verified.
“Hundreds of thousands of customers now have access to Alexa+ – of course, some are employees and their families, but the overwhelming majority are customers that requested early access,” said an Amazon spokesperson. That’s an increase over the approximately 100,000 users that Amazon said Alexa+ had on May 1.
Amazon declined to comment on the lack of public reviews and reactions to Alexa+. A spokesperson confirmed that using the service did not require signing a nondisclosure agreement.
In April, TechRadar Report was made on an AMA thread by a Redditor who appeared to have had early access to Alexa+. The evidence consisted of a photo of their username on a piece tape, which was attached to the screen on an Amazon Echo Show displaying Alexa+ Early Access. They said “Old Alexa was hot garbage but this new one was a pleasant surprise,” . Avi Greengart of Techsponential and lead analyst, who attended the Alexa+ event, said the lack of Alexa+ users is not unusual in the tech world.
“This fits a pattern of a lot of companies announcing services or products when they are awfully close to being ready, but not quite – that last mile is a lot farther away than they anticipated,” He said.
Amazon began notifying users who had signed up for Early Access soon after Reuters’ article was published that they could now activate Alexa+.
Alexa+ for Amazon Prime members will be free. Non-subscribers pay $19.99.
