Alexa’s big AI upgrade could be powered by Claude — and it could give us truly smart speakers
According to industry insiders, it is true that reported by ReutersAmazon’s new version of Alexa, with built-in AI, is powered by Anthropic’s artificial intelligence Claude, rather than a custom-built AI from Amazon.
Anthropic’s Claude has long been touted as a great alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but it lacks a voice mode, so partnering with Amazon via Alexa opens the door to a lot of possibilities. We also wonder if we’ll see a new Alexa with a screen that can truly take advantage of AI, though Claude doesn’t have built-in image generation capabilities.
As we recently reported, rather than sticking to the free model we’re used to, the AI-powered version of Alexa will cost between $5 and $10 per month. Whether people will be willing to spend another $10 per month to use AI on their Alexa device is another matter. After Google started charging $20 per month for the Gemini Advanced, which you’ll need to use the touted voice mode features on its new Pixel 9 smartphone, some in the industry have already raised concerns about the rising cost of AI. At this point, we’re so used to AI being free that even a small monthly fee can seem excessive.
Many had expected Amazon to develop its own AI, much like Facebook did with its Llama LLM. However, industry sources said the responsiveness of its own in-house AI was too slow, so Amazon turned to Claude from Anthropic. Choosing Claude as a turnkey solution is a great idea, and there’s nothing new about big names like Amazon asking for help with their AI offerings. Microsoft was an early investor in OpenAI and uses ChatGPT to power Copilot on Windows. Apple is also using ChatGPT for situations beyond the scope of Siri’s onboard AI in the new iOS 18.
Claude recently received praise for adding an Artifacts feature to all users, even on the free tier, which opens a separate window to show you the results of the project it’s helping you create while you continue to have a conversation about it in another window. The idea is that you can see the effects of any tweaks and edits you make in real time. This is obviously more useful for people working on things like research or coding projects than the kinds of tasks Alexa is designed for, and Alexa devices have largely lacked displays.
New features we know are coming to Alexa
The new AI-powered Alexa can answer complex questions in much the same way as Google’s Gemini Live, so you can ask it to help you plan your first week of college, suggest a casserole recipe, or come up with a workout plan to help you get fit. But there’s more. Leaked documents recently obtained by the Washington Post revealed five new features coming to Alexa in October, including smart briefing, a more personalized response, cooking help, a shopping scout, and an AI assistant for kids.
Right now, Alexa is primarily used to set timers and alarms, and adding AI could be the key to unlocking its true potential and giving us a truly smart speaker. Imagine being able to have deep conversations with your kitchen speaker about life, the universe, and everything.
You can try Anthropic Claude for free now on her website to see what it can do. Like ChatGPT, it is a multimodal AI, so you can upload images and ask questions about them, write code in different programming languages, or just chat and ask what hobbies you should take up.