Last year, David Limp, Amazon’s former senior vice president of devices and services, hinted at charging for a more capable version of Alexa — and now we have an idea of how much it might cost. A report from Reuters suggests that Amazon’s AI-supercharged version of Alexa could cost anywhere from $5 to $10 per month on top of your Prime membership. Sources tell Reuters that Amazon is aiming to launch the new Alexa in August, marking a “desperate attempt” to overhaul the voice assistant.
As noted by Reuters, Amazon still plans on replacing the basic version with one that offers new generative AI features, but it will put a more advanced Alexa behind a paywall. The AI Alexa will let customers ask for shopping advice, such as what kind of hat and gloves they should buy for a mountain climbing trip, as reported by Reuters. That’s similar to the kind of information Rufus, Amazon’s AI shopping chatbot, can provide.