On Friday (August 30th), it was reported that Amazon will release a new version of its intelligent voice assistant Alexa before the US holiday season in October this year. The technology it relies on mainly comes from Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence model, rather than Amazon's own artificial intelligence model.
The news about the new version of Alexa has been circulating for several months now. In June, it was reported that Amazon planned to charge a monthly fee of $5 to $10 for its new version of Alexa, as it will use powerful generative artificial intelligence to answer complex questions, while Amazon will still offer a free "classic" version of its voice assistant.
Alexa's Key Year
Usually, Amazon avoids relying on non internally developed technologies as it ensures complete control over user experience, data collection, and direct relationships with customers.
However, Amazon does not have internal technology this time, why is that?
According to Friday's report, five informed sources have revealed the latest developments regarding the new version of Alexa. One of the sources said that after research, the initial version of Alexa using Amazon's internal artificial intelligence model had difficulty recognizing words and sometimes took six to seven seconds to recognize prompts and reply, while Alexa performed better with the Claude big model. This may be the reason why Amazon chose Anthropic to develop the large model.
An Amazon spokesperson later stated in a statement that "Amazon uses many different technologies to drive Alexa
When it comes to machine learning models, we start with the model established by Amazon, but we have already used and will continue to use various different models, including Amazon's existing artificial intelligence model Titan and future models, as well as partner models, to build the best experience for customers
It is reported that Anthropic has a significant relationship with Amazon. Anthropic is an artificial intelligence startup based in San Francisco, USA. Amazon has previously invested approximately $4 billion in Anthropic and holds a minority stake in it.
2024 is a crucial year for Alexa as Amazon's senior management continues to emphasize that Alexa must ultimately prove itself to be able to generate revenue. It is expected that the upcoming improved paid version of Alexa will be able to achieve this and keep pace with its competitors.
According to informed sources, the new version of Alexa is expected to be released in October and previewed during Amazon's annual device and service event, which typically takes place in September.