Amazon hasn't decided how much it will jack up the price after that date. To get those aforementioned features, users will now have to sign up for the new Alexa Emergency Assist, which costs $5.99 a month or $59 a year until January 8. In addition to announcing new hardware last week, The Verge this week reported that Amazon is discontinuing Alexa Guard, which included free home security features, like smoke, carbon monoxide, and glass break sound detection. While Amazon continues developing its supposedly subscription-worthy Alexa, the devices division appears to be trying to squeeze money out of customers wherever it can. The division suffered layoffs and, as mentioned, is now anticipating the departure of its longtime leader this year. In January, Business Insider reported Alexa was on track to lose Amazon $10 billion in 2022.

Alexa, like other voice assistants, has been experiencing uncertainty lately. It seems Amazon is planning on Alexa offering a comparative amount of value one day soon.Īs Amazon looks for ways to drive revenue from Alexa, Alexa's potential generative AI features are still in their very early stages, executives made clear at last week's presentation. Limp wasn't only speaking of his own opinion, but rather, company goals.Īfter all, ChatGPT (which is, of course, miles ahead of Alexa when it comes to generative AI capabilities) has a paywalled version, ChatGPT Plus. However, an Amazon spokesperson echoed Limp's sentiments in a statement to The Register. Limp is leaving Amazon at the end of the year and becoming Blue Origin's CEO. The Alexa that you know and love today is going to remain free.'ĭon't bet on Alexa's subscription fee being baked into your Amazon Prime subscription or hardware purchase, either, as Amazon thinks both represent 'unbelievably oversized value already,' Limp said. 'We’ll talk to customers and learn from them, what they believe the value is. 'We don’t have an idea of a price yet,' Limp said. Limp wouldn't put a timeline on when Amazon will charge for Alexa access but said 'it's not decades away.' He added that Alexa would have to be 'remarkable' before that happens. Limp said 'the cost for inference of the model in the cloud, is substantial.' On Monday, Amazon announced an up to $4 billion investment and minority ownership in Anthropic to build out large language models. Previewing those features won't cost anything besides the cost of the Echo hardware and, perhaps, some of your sense of privacy.īut in his talk with Bloomberg, Limp emphasized the costs associated with turning Alexa from a voice assistant that can tell you the temperature to a generative AI chatbot that can draft an email, based on information previously discussed with it, for you to send to your friends. These features included the ability to have a back-and-forth discussion with Alexa showcasing its own 'opinions,' like a favorite sports team. 'Yes, we absolutely think that,' the executive responded.ĭuring last week's event, Amazon demoed generative AI features it has been working on for Alexa and that it will let Echo users preview in the coming months. Eric Lee for the Washington Post/Getty reader comments 211Īmazon thinks that in the near future, its Alexa voice assistant will offer enough value that customers will be willing to pay a subscription fee to use it.Īfter Amazon's devices event last week, when the company showcased generative AI features it's developing for Alexa, Bloomberg asked Dave Limp, SVP of devices and services at Amazon, if there will be a time when Alexa's AI features will require a subscription.

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