Amazon's New 'Remarkable' Alexa Set for October Launch Leveraging Anthropic's AI

Amazon is preparing to release a new, paid version of its Alexa voice assistant powered by Anthropic's Claude AI models. The updated service aims to provide advanced AI capabilities for a fee, while the classic version remains free. This move comes after Amazon's internal AI showed performance issues.

Amazon's revamped Alexa, due for release in October ahead of the U.S. holiday season, will be powered primarily by Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence models, rather than its own AI models, Reuters learned from five sources. Amazon plans to charge $5 to $10 a month for its new 'Remarkable' Alexa version, which will leverage powerful generative AI to handle complex queries while maintaining a free 'Classic' version of the assistant.

Facing internal AI performance problems, Amazon turned to Claude, an AI chatbot developed by startup Anthropic, which outperformed Amazon's models. The decision underscores Amazon's shift from relying solely on in-house tech to partnering with external AI specialists, a move already seen with other tech giants like Microsoft and Apple.

Alexa, available through Amazon televisions and Echo devices, will incorporate new features aimed at enhancing user engagement and potentially generating revenue, as the division has yet to become profitable. Amazon plans to establish 2024 as a critical year for Alexa, aiming to prove that the new paid version can deliver significant sales and compete with rivals in the tech space.

“Amazon uses many different technologies to power Alexa. When it comes to machine learning models, we start with those built by Amazon, but we have used and will continue to use, a variety of different models—including Titan and future Amazon models, as well as those from partners—to build the best experience for customers. That’s one of the key advantages of Amazon Bedrock—it makes it easy for application developers to seamlessly use the world’s highest-performing models, and multiple models, through a single API.” – Amazon Spokesperson

(With inputs from agencies.)