This version of Alexa was first announced in February and was previously scheduled to launch at the end of June, The Washington Post reported Monday (July 14), citing internal Amazon documents.
The documents did not give a reason for the change, according to the report.
Asked about the documents by The Washington Post, Amazon spokesperson Lauren Raemhild said, per the report, Alexa.com is not delayed and “will be available with Alexa+ Early Access this summer.”
The company’s Alexa+ Early Access web page said Monday that Alexa.com is “coming soon.”
Several million people have early access to Alexa+ and 90% of the features Amazon announced in February, according to The Washington Post report.
Raemhild said in the report that Amazon is fine-tuning Alexa+ as it expands the new virtual assistant to more customers.
“Customers love that Alexa+ is vastly more conversational and able to handle significantly more complex tasks, and this Early Access phase is really important as we learn how they want to use it, and what they expect,” Raemhild said, per the report.
When announcing Alexa+ on Feb. 26, Amazon said it would be a revamped version of Alexa that is infused with generative AI and that the virtual assistant would be more capable, conversational and agentic than the old version.
Alexa+ can order groceries, call an Uber, find and book a repairman and do other activities, the company said at the time. It can send text messages, go to websites and complete tasks for users through Alexa.com and a new phone app.
PYMNTS reported Feb. 26 that Alexa+ had been plagued by delays due to it hallucinating or giving wrong information on test questions. The February unveiling came about a year and a half after Amazon first announced it was going to infuse artificial intelligence into Alexa.
On May 2, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company rolled out Alexa+ to more than 100,000 users and would make the voice assistant available to more users in the coming months.
“People are really liking Alexa+ thus far,” Jassy said during the company’s May 1 earnings call.
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