Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Amazon is expected to unveil its new and improved AI-powered Alexa later this month, but it may not reach the public immediately after the event.
- Internal sources reveal that Amazon seems to have pushed the public release back by a month due to technical hurdles.
- The new Alexa is reportedly still facing issues with answering test questions accurately.
Amazon has been working on making its voice assistant, Alexa, smarter and more versatile with generative AI for quite some time. However, the company has reportedly faced technical hurdles in getting the upgrade right, leading to multiple delays. Although Amazon is scheduled to unveil the AI-powered Alexa later this month, a new report indicates that it may not reach users immediately after the February 26 event.
According to internal messages seen by The Washington Post, the public release of the new Alexa has been pushed back by a month. An unnamed Amazon employee told the publication that it may not arrive until March 31 or later, as Alexa still seems to be struggling to give accurate answers to test questions.
Amazon reportedly plans to offer the new Alexa as part of a new subscription plan. It will include several advanced capabilities, like the ability for Alexa to adopt a personality, “recall conversation, order takeout or call a taxi.”
Alexa isn’t the only voice assistant facing issues with its AI-powered upgrade. Apple’s Siri also seems to be facing delays due to technical problems, with a recent report claiming that Apple may hold off on releasing all of the advertised features when the new Siri rolls out with the iOS 18.4 update. The company could delay some capabilities until iOS 18.5 hits iPhones sometime in May.
