# Amazon’s AI-Powered Alexa+ Reaches 100,000 Users, But Key Features Remain MIA

## Amazon’s AI-Powered Alexa+ Reaches 100,000 Users, But Key Features Remain MIA

Amazon’s next-generation digital assistant, Alexa+, has begun its rollout, reaching over 100,000 users, according to CEO Andy Jassy during the company’s latest earnings call. While this is a small fraction of the 600 million Alexa-enabled devices currently in use, it marks a significant step for Amazon’s ambitions in the evolving landscape of AI-powered assistants.

First unveiled in February, Alexa+ aims to move beyond pre-programmed responses, offering users a more natural and conversational interaction style. The ultimate goal is for Alexa+ to possess “agentic abilities,” enabling it to leverage third-party applications on behalf of its users. This vision aligns with the voice-driven AI race, positioning Alexa+ against similar offerings from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

However, the initial rollout of Alexa+ appears to be somewhat pared back. As reported by The Washington Post, key features demonstrated at launch, such as the ability to utilize third-party apps like GrubHub, generate personalized bedtime stories, or brainstorm gift ideas, are currently absent. The timeline for their inclusion remains unclear.

Despite these limitations, Jassy remains optimistic, stating that Amazon plans to add “a lot more functionality” in the coming months. He highlighted Alexa+ as one of the first action-oriented AI agents for consumers, while also acknowledging the technology’s “primitive” and sometimes “inaccurate” nature. He further pointed out the current accuracy challenges facing multi-step AI agents, which typically range between 30% and 60%. Jassy has set an ambitious target of 90% accuracy for Nova Act, the web-browsing agent powering Alexa+.

Interestingly, Amazon’s Alexa+ rollout seems to be progressing faster than Apple’s implementation of its LLM-powered Siri. On Apple’s simultaneous earnings call, CEO Tim Cook indicated that they needed “more time to complete the work,” suggesting potential delays in the highly anticipated Siri upgrade.

Both Amazon and Apple have encountered obstacles in their pursuit of supercharging their digital assistants with generative AI. Integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) with existing tools and systems has proven more challenging than anticipated, impacting the ability to perform practical tasks such as setting timers and reading texts. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, the race to create a truly intelligent and helpful digital assistant is far from over, with both successes and setbacks along the way.

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