More invites to Amazon’s upgraded digital assistant, Alexa+, powered by generative AI, have been steadily rolling out.
The service, first announced in February, now reaches over a million users, Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. However, Alexa+ is not yet publicly available.
Instead, Amazon has been working through its waitlist, sending out invites to customers who originally signed up to test the service when it became available. Over the past several weeks, many people have shared on social media that they’ve received an invite to try Alexa+, which offers more natural and personalized interactions, smart home integration, and expanded capabilities thanks to AI.
Earlier this year, Amazon noted that invites to try the new system would roll out in waves over the following months. As of May 2025, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that Alexa+ had reached over 100,000 users — only a tiny fraction of the 600 million Alexa devices sold to date. That number has grown significantly in the weeks since.
Alexa+ represents a serious attempt by Amazon to create a consumer-facing generative AI experience that it can eventually monetize.
Though Amazon pioneered the market for smart home-connected, voice-based assistants through its Alexa-powered Echo devices, it wasn’t able to turn that traction into a revenue-generating business. In recent years, Alexa lost its appeal as generative AI services like ChatGPT surged in popularity. Compared to modern AI, Alexa began to feel clunky, constrained, and underpowered.
Alexa+ aims to bring new capabilities to the digital assistant. The service allows users to interact using more natural language, letting them phrase requests their own way. For instance, saying “It’s too cold in here” would prompt Alexa to adjust your smart thermostat. Users will also find it easier to create routines, search through Ring camera footage, interrupt or pivot conversations, and more.
The experience is more personalized, too, as it saves your preferences and remembers what you like — from favorite songs to recipes and beyond.
With its generative AI component, Alexa+ can summarize long emails, create unique bedtime stories, generate quizzes from study guides, build travel itineraries, summarize smart home activity, and answer questions similarly to an AI chatbot.
Additionally, the assistant will be able to help with actions like buying concert tickets, booking dinner reservations, or notifying you when something you’re watching goes on sale. Initial partners for these features include OpenTable, Ticketmaster, Uber Eats, Tripadvisor, Grubhub, Yelp, Priceline, Viator, Thumbtack, Atom, Fodor’s, and others.
During Early Access, Alexa+ is available on Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 devices in the U.S. It will gradually expand to more Echo customers, as well as Fire TV and Fire tablet users.
Customers invited to try the product have reported mixed results — some praise the service as being more advanced than Siri, while others note that it’s still rough around the edges. (Some early reviews support the latter view.)
It’s worth noting that Alexa+ is not yet fully launched, but it’s getting close. Amazon says nearly 90% of the features it previously announced have now shipped.
