Amazon is working with Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence technology to make its Alexa voice assistant more conversational, aiming to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Amazon plans to charge a monthly fee of $5 to $10 for users to access the improved version of Alexa while still offering a basic version for free. Previous homegrown versions of Alexa’s generative AI responses struggled with delays in responding to prompts, leading Amazon to seek out new technology to enhance its capabilities.
Amazon has invested $4 billion in Anthropic, gaining a minority stake in the San Francisco-based AI company. This partnership includes offering Anthropic’s AI models through Amazon Web Services. While some may view this move as a setback for Amazon in the face of competition from ChatGPT, the company insists it uses a variety of technologies to power Alexa, combining models built by Amazon with those from partners to provide the best experience for customers. Amazon’s managed service for AI models, known as Amazon Bedrock, allows developers to access different models through a single API.
AWS vice president Swami Sivasubramanian has highlighted the trend of companies integrating various AI models into their applications, rather than relying solely on a single model. Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant is a complex system comprising speech recognition, text-to-speech, and language models, in addition to generative AI capabilities. Last fall, Amazon previewed a feature called “Let’s Chat” designed to enhance Alexa’s conversational abilities, but it has not yet been released publically.
There have been shifts within Amazon’s Devices & Services business, with former Microsoft executive Panos Panay taking over leadership from Dave Limp, who moved to become CEO of Blue Origin. Reports suggest that the Amazon devices division is facing pressure to improve its financial performance after years of losses. Amazon typically unveils new devices and services at a launch event held each fall, but the date for this year’s event has not been announced.
Overall, Amazon’s partnership with Anthropic to enhance Alexa with more conversational capabilities represents a strategic move to compete in the evolving field of voice-assisted technologies. By leveraging Anthropic’s AI technology, Amazon aims to offer customers an improved user experience while embracing a variety of AI models to enhance its voice assistant. As the competition in AI technology continues to grow, it is essential for companies like Amazon to adapt and innovate to stay ahead in the market.
