Amazon Customers May Soon Be Asking Alexa How Much She's Charging to Help

Amazon is considering charging customers around $5-$10 a month to access a premium version of its Alexa voice assistant as part of a major revamp of the platform, according to a Reuters report, which cites anonymous sources. It's not the first time the idea has been made public. In January, reports surfaced that Amazon would release a paid subscription version of Alexa in June, though that hasn't happened yet.

A spokesperson for Amazon didn't comment on the possible fee for a premium service but did confirm that generative AI figures heavily in plans for Alexa.

"Generative AI offers a huge opportunity," the spokesperson said. "We have already integrated generative AI into different components of Alexa and are working hard on implementation at scale." 

According to the Reuters report and other stories, Amazon has been struggling to make money with Alexa. About half a billion Alexa-powered devices, such as the Echo Dot and Echo Show screens and speakers, have been sold around the world, but the voice technology hasn't made a profit for the company since it was introduced in 2014. 

Now, reports say, Amazon is desperately trying to find ways to create new revenue from Alexa even as the digital assistant competes with generative AI offerings like ChatGPT and a new version of Siri that will include Apple Intelligence features later this year. 

The big push on building a better Alexa comes after Amazon eliminated several hundred jobs in the division late last year.

As part of a new generation of Alexa, Amazon is pushing to complete a "Remarkable Alexa" tier by August, Reuters said. The current Alexa service would be replaced by a new AI-powered platform, and a more powerful AI piece of software would be made available for more complex queries for a monthly fee, the news outlet said. The report says the paid tier wouldn't be included for free with Amazon Prime subscriptions.

For current users, there are plenty of ways to customize Alexa right now.