Amazon has officially launched its revamped AI assistant, now known as Alexa+, on the web. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the new Alexa.com website is currently rolling out to Alexa+ Early Access customers. This expansion allows users to interact with Alexa+ directly through their web browser, similar to popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Expanding Alexa+'s Reach Beyond Devices
While Alexa-powered devices, including Amazon's Echo smart speakers and screens, boast a significant global footprint with over 600 million units sold, Amazon recognizes the need for its AI assistant to be ubiquitous to remain competitive. The company aims for Alexa+ to be accessible "everywhere"—not just in homes, but also on phones and the web. This strategic move also provides a pathway for individuals to engage with Alexa+ even if they don't own a dedicated Amazon device.
In conjunction with the web launch, Amazon is updating its Alexa mobile app. The refreshed app will feature a more "agent-forward" experience, transforming its homepage into a chatbot-style interface. While chat functionality was previously available, the new design places a primary emphasis on conversational interaction, with other features taking a secondary role.
Family-Centric Features and Integrations
On Alexa.com, customers can use Alexa+ for common tasks, such as exploring complex topics, creating content, and making trip itineraries. However, Amazon aims to differentiate its assistant from others by focusing on families and their needs in the home. This includes controlling smart devices, as was already possible with the original Alexa, but it also means doing things like updating the family's calendar or to-do list, making dinner reservations, adding grocery items to Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods carts, finding recipes and saving them to a library, or even planning family movie nights with personalized recommendations.
More recently, Amazon has been integrating more services with Alexa+, including the addition of Angi, Expedia, Square, and Yelp, which will join existing apps like Fodor's, OpenTable, Suno, Ticketmaster, Thumbtack, and Uber. The Alexa.com website further enhances usability with a navigation sidebar, providing quick access to frequently used Alexa features, so users can pick up where they left off on tasks like setting the thermostat, checking calendars for appointments, and reviewing shopping lists.
Alexa+ as a Family Data Hub
In addition, Amazon aims to convince customers to share their personal documents, emails, and calendar access with Alexa+, allowing its AI to become a central hub for managing household affairs. This includes tracking children's school holidays and soccer schedules, doctor's appointments, and other family reminders—like when the dog received its last rabies shot or the date of a neighbor's backyard BBQ.
This is an area where Amazon will need to innovate, as it doesn't possess its own productivity suite or the wealth of personal data that rivals like Google already have for their customers. Instead, Amazon has been relying on tools to forward and upload files to Alexa+ for its AI to keep track of. This functionality will now also be available on Alexa.com, and the shared information can be displayed and managed on Echo Show screens. This ability to manage a family's personal data could prove to be Alexa+'s biggest selling point, if executed effectively.
Amazon's Vision and Customer Adoption
"Seventy-six percent of what customers are using Alexa+ for no other AI can do," says Daniel Rausch, VP of Alexa and Echo at Amazon, in an interview with TechCrunch. "And I think that's a really interesting statistic about Alexa+ for two reasons."
He continues, "One, because customers count on Alexa to do unique things. You know, you can send a photograph of an old family recipe to Alexa and then talk through the recipe as you're cooking it in your kitchen, substitute ingredients for what you have around the home, and get the job all the way done."
Rausch notes that another 24% of users are engaging Alexa+ for tasks that other AIs can perform, which could indicate a growing shift in their overall AI usage towards Alexa+. He reported that over 10 million consumers now have access to Alexa+, engaging in two to three times more conversations than with the original Alexa assistant. Specifically, shopping interactions have tripled, and recipe usage has quintupled. Heavy smart home customers also use Alexa+ 50% more for smart home control compared with the original Alexa.
Despite some online complaints about Alexa+'s misfires and mistakes, Rausch believes these are over-represented. He states that the number of people opting out of the Alexa+ experience after trying it is in the low single digits, on average, or "effectively ... almost none."
"Ninety-seven percent of Alexa devices support Alexa+, and we see now in adoption from customers that they're using Alexa across all those many years and many generations of devices," Rausch adds. "We support all of Alexa's original capabilities, the tens of thousands of services and devices that Alexa was integrated with already are carried forward to the Alexa+ experience."
Availability
Alexa.com is currently accessible to Early Access customers who sign in with their Amazon account. Amazon has been progressively rolling out Early Access since Alexa+'s initial debut early last year.
