After repeatedly leaving customers without smart control of their lights, Sengled has been booted from Amazon’s Works With Alexa program. As first reported by TechHive, beginning August 1st, Sengled’s Alexa skill for controlling its line of LED lights, plugs, switches, and sensors with your voice and routines is no longer available. In a statement to […]
In the week’s least surprising news, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy revealed that the company is exploring ways to bring ads to Alexa Plus, its new generative-AI-powered voice assistant. During a conference call following the company’s second-quarter earnings report, Jassy said that “there will be opportunities, as people are engaging in more multiturn conversations [with Alexa […]
One of the best features of Amazon’s new Alexa Plus is that I don’t have to “speak Alexa” anymore. I’ve been testing the voice assistant for about a week now, and it understands what I say, regardless of how I say it – there’s no more need for precise phrasing to get Alexa to do […]
I’ve waited two years to try out the new Alexa, which was first announced way back in 2023, and this week I finally got access to Alexa Plus (not organically – I did have to pull a few strings). I’ve now spent 24 hours with Amazon’s generative AI-powered voice assistant, and it’s not just an […]
While a smarter Siri may have been a no-show at WWDC, Alexa Plus, the generative AI-powered overhaul of Amazon’s voice assistant, is finally appearing in the wild. No one at The Verge has access yet, but Amazon spokesperson Eric Sveum tells me over a million people now do — up from “hundreds of thousands” just […]
The New York Times has struck a multi-year AI licensing deal with Amazon that will bring its “editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,” the outlet announced on Thursday. Under the agreement, Amazon will include summaries and short excerpts of The Times’ content in products like Alexa, and will also use Times articles […]
Yesterday, Reuters ran a story with the headline “Weeks after Amazon’s Alexa+ AI launch, a mystery: where are the users?,” in which it detailed its difficulty locating first-hand accounts of the AI-upgraded assistants’ use online. The Verge asked Amazon about the story, and the company has responded to say that the idea that Alexa Plus […]