3 ways Amazon just leapfrogged Apple, Google, and ChatGPT in the AI race

Voice assistants stagnated for a decade, hindered by poor understanding and limited usefulness. Recent generative AI developments have transformed them, enabling conversational, multi-turn, and emotion-aware interactions, which tech giants like Google and Apple have included within their offerings. Even though Amazon lagged in upgrading Alexa, it has now unveiled its revamped Alexa+ and, maybe, even lapped the competition.

Also: Here’s how to use Alexa+ for free – especially if you’re an Amazon Prime member

Amazon has taken the idea of a conversational voice assistant to the next level with Alexa+ by adding agentic capabilities that place the assistant’s helpfulness beyond its competitors, allowing the tool to perform everyday tasks for you. The availability of Alexa+ has also made voice assistant tech more easily accessible for everyday users than Amazon’s competitors. 

If you have tried other AI voice assistants and aren’t quite sold on Alexa+, here are a few reasons Amazon’s take may change your mind. 

1. Integration with Alexa products and Prime

One of Alexa+’s biggest advantages is that all of its experiences are coming to existing devices, meaning users who want to experience the full suite of AI experiences offered by the upgrade won’t have to update the hardware they already own. 

Also: Everything Amazon announced at its Alexa event today: Alexa+, Echo Show UI, and more

Since Alexa-supported device users already seek assistance, they are more likely to be interested in and benefit from an upgraded assistant.

To make that transition more seamless, Amazon is baking the new services into its Amazon Prime subscription, which costs $14.99 monthly or $139 annually. That subscription also grants users access to other perks, such as free two-day shipping, access to major sales events, Prime Video, and more. People already in the Amazon ecosystem with a Prime subscription and Alexa products will be able to experience the upgrades with no further action, a big differentiator from most competitors on the market. 

For example, to access the full breadth of Apple Intelligence, users must purchase a device with a chipset that can support the features. This is a big ask for people who are on the fence about incorporating AI into their daily lives. 

Also: I tried Perplexity’s assistant, and only one thing stops it from being my default phone AI

A software example comes with ChatGPT Advanced Voice, which, like Amazon’s Alexa, can hold conversational, multi-turn chats with people. However, it is only available in ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20 monthly. Thus, users must go out of their way to access ChatGPT and commit to an additional subscription. 

Although Amazon also offers the $20 per month Alexa+ subscription offer for non-Prime users, the ask is still a bit less as they will likely already use the device in their homes as an assistant.

2. Most advanced AI voice assistant 

Objectively, when considering all the different features of Alexa+, it is the most advanced AI-powered voice assistant. Like the rest of the AI models on the market, the device can communicate with the user in a way that mimics human conversation, understanding non-linear train of thoughts, multi-turn prompts, and interruptions. However, Alexa+ can take this process further and carry out tasks using agentic capabilities. 

AI agents can carry out tasks for you with minimal to no instruction — and with a simple voice command, you can use Alexa+ to navigate the internet autonomously and complete tasks on your behalf.

Also: Amazon just gave Alexa its biggest upgrade in a decade – and old Echo devices will support it

“Alexa+ is designed to take action, and is able to orchestrate across tens of thousands of services and devices — which, to our knowledge, has never been done at this scale,” said Amazon. 

“To achieve this, we created a concept called “experts” — groups of systems, capabilities, APIs, and instructions that accomplish specific types of tasks for customers.”

Also: Want your Safari to default to ChatGPT for search? Here’s how to do it

An example Amazon cites is a user needing to repair a kitchen appliance. By simply asking Alexa+ to help arrange to get the oven fixed, Alexa+ knows to navigate the web, use Thumbtack to find a service provider, arrange the repair, and let you know it is booked. 

The closest comparison is ChatGPT’s and Google Gemini’s Advanced Research agentic AI features (yes, both have the same name), which sift through hundreds of resources on the web and generate a comprehensive report from the user’s prompt. However, neither voice assistant can perform tasks on your behalf — yet. 

3. Partnerships with leading brands 

Amazon has partnered with well-known companies and services that people rely on daily to enhance the practicality and convenience of Alexa’s agentic capabilities. The current lineup includes Ticketmaster, OpenTable, Vagaro, Amazon Fresh, and UberEats, to name a few. These strategic collaborations allow Alexa+ to take on a more proactive role in managing everyday tasks. 

With a simple voice command, users can seamlessly book restaurant reservations, purchase event tickets, schedule beauty and wellness appointments, or order groceries and meals — all without lifting a finger. By integrating these services, Amazon aims to transform Alexa+ into a true personal assistant, streamlining routine activities. 

Also: This new text-to-speech AI model understands what it’s saying – how to try it for free

For example, during the live demo, the user could ask Alexa+ to help him order groceries on Amazon Fresh. Immediately, Alexa+ could open the interface and add ingredients as he listed them. Then, he asked Alexa+ what ingredients are typically used and to add those ingredients to the cart. The user just reviewed the items to place the order. 

These integrations should help boost adoption, as users will have more motivation to incorporate Alexa+ into their everyday lives. Users will also trust the companies and services they already use to carry out the task. For example, after asking Alexa+ to place an order, GrubHub users trust that a delivery driver will ensure the food arrives safely at their doorstep because of previous interactions with the company.