I Got Early Access to Amazon’s New Gen AI Alexa+. Things Got Weird.

A screen displaying the Alexa+ early access home menu.

When Amazon announced in February a generative-AI-infused update to Alexa, dubbed Alexa+, it seemed as if the company had metaphorically jammed its flag into the moon’s surface, proclaiming itself the winner of the gen-AI voice-assistant race. After all, Apple had promised a gen-AI-powered Siri ages ago, only to backtrack and put off a release indefinitely — and then it barely mentioned Siri at the WWDC 2025 gathering in June. Google announced that its Gemini would replace Google Assistant, but the rollout has been slow and uneven, and commentary among Google device owners is that Google Home has become less reliable in the process.

This week, however, Amazon announced that Alexa+ is already being used by more than a million people (I know of just one other, personally), and with the full release of Alexa+ being teased for summer 2025, the company has taken an early lead.

With gen AI, there are two equally loud and disparate voices in my head, pulling my opinion to and fro. One Katy declares, “This is the way of the future, look at all of the good that can come of this, everything will be fine!” The other Katy sneers, “Why does this thing need to know my favorite color, anyway?”

As Amazon promised, early access to Alexa+ is a bit of a lottery: You have to sign up to request access, which Amazon seems to grant randomly, and it is restricted to owners of specific Echo smart speaker models — and then you have to wait to be invited. I requested access and heard nothing until a couple of weeks ago, when a pop-up on my Echo Show 8 asked if I wanted to try early access. Without thinking twice, I accepted, unsure of what to expect. I was curious: Amazon may have planted its flag on the moon, but would that flag be AI slop, complete with uneven stripes and oddly shaped stars?

Amazon’s main Alexa+ page highlights five key features of its upgraded assistant (which will be free for Prime members, otherwise $20 a month). The first is a more conversational Alexa, capable of longer chats, customized answers, and the ability to speak naturally or change the subject. The company also promises more fluid and useful third-party integrations that will allow you to use voice commands to book an Uber or a dinner reservation, or even plan a vacation. Amazon also says that Alexa+ is designed to fix one especially nagging limitation of the original version — the inability to be personalized to the user. The company has also promised improvements to smart-home control, as well as more ways to access Alexa+ on the go.

Not all of those features are available yet, and most of them are very much a work in progress. But within moments of upgrading to Alexa+, I realized that the first feature was the star of the show and informed all the others.



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