Amazon’s new voice assistant, Alexa+, joins the race toward the generative AI future. The company wants to capitalize and create early leadership in this fast-changing market. Alexa+ would have to be compared with behemoths such as OpenAI, Google or Perplexity. Since its announcement, it has garnered a lot of interest from the transportation industry, but early reviews are decidedly mixed.
Alexa+ is Amazon’s biggest push yet to improve user experience with generative AI features. Given that consumers are already using voice assistants for everything from ordering groceries to booking travel, the technology’s potential is wide. Yet, for all of its innovation, Alexa+ has its own challenges. Recently, it has been reported that the assistant can suffer from hallucinations. This is a systemic problem with AI systems, causing them to produce bullshit or hallucinations.
To help bolster its leadership in the fast-moving AI race, Amazon has poured billions of dollars into its technology. During the second quarter of 2025, the company’s capital expenditures were $31.4 billion. This is an unbelievable jump of 90% from the same time last year. This major monetary investment amplifies Amazon’s focus and motivation to latch onto its rivals in the speedy expansion of the AI industry.
In the blog post announcement, Andy Jassy, Amazon’s CEO, shared high hopes for Alexa+. He touched on the increasing anticipation from consumers about the new devices that will be powered by the new voice assistant. Jassy stated,
“People are excited about the devices that they can buy from us that has Alexa+ enabled in it. People do a lot of shopping [with Alexa+]; it’s a delightful shopping experience that will keep getting better.”
As Amazon figures out Alexa+ down the line, there are talks of subscription tiers that would go beyond what we have today. These tiers could range all the way down to an ad-free experience—very attractive to users who want to talk to their voice assistant without ads interrupting them.
The potential for working advertising into Alexa+ has stirred up a lot of conversation as well. Jassy offered, as users start having more and more multi turn conversations, there will be advertising opportunities in the future still. He noted,
“I think over time, there will be opportunities, as people are engaging in more multi-turn conversations, to have advertising play a role to help people find discovery, and also as a lever to drive revenue.”
This potential is actually very much in keeping with trends we’re seeing across other voice assistant platforms. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, has already stated his openness to some kind of “tasteful” advertising inside ChatGPT. Altman’s company has created a voice mode, where users can interact with their phones entirely through spoken commands. Google recently debuted its equivalent feature Gemini Live, heating up competition within the space even more.
Beyond competing technology, Amazon has come under increasing scrutiny regarding user experience and functionality. The early reviews of Alexa+ have varied widely, pointing to a positive or negative emphasis based on user experience. Once the product has any level of success, ongoing feedback can be a key factor in how the product develops over the long haul.
TechCrunch, one of the leading technology news publications, covers cutting-edge development across the AI and tech industries. We’re so excited that they’re bringing their fabulous event to San Francisco from October 27-29, 2025! This meeting will be home to a rich discussion shaping the future of these rapidly changing AI technologies, such as new platforms like AI-powered Alexa+.
For that reason, we commend Amazon for addressing these complexities of the AI landscape head-on. They make sure to focus on improving user experiences and remaining competitive. With major investments and new features coming soon, Alexa+ might change the game and consumers will never think about voice tech the same way again.
