Amazon wants to monetize Alexa through a subscription service.
According to Business Insider, Alexa doesn’t make Amazon any money but puts pressure on its resources. In an attempt to change this, Amazon is reportedly supercharging the smart speaker with AI and possibly calling it Alexa Plus.
Amazon plans to launch it on June 30th, but only if it can resolve its list of issues first.
The publication notes the product is riddled with problems that make getting answers to a question hell. When the device does present an answer (it apparently doesn’t sometimes), they’re long and often inaccurate, a problem we’ve seen with several AI-powered chatbots.
Alexa Plus also reportedly has difficulty handling requests dealing with multiple services, such as turning off the lights in a specific room.
The report from Business Insider further points to tension between employees who built the original version of Alexa and those tasked with Alexa Plus. The original team wants the company to maintain some of the early technology, which is reportedly making it harder for the newer version of Alexa to run.
Some employees have also questioned if users will be willing to pay for Alexa Plus in addition to the other services they might pay for through Amazon, such as Prime.
Roughly 15,000 customers are testing the product under the codename Remarkable Alexa.
Source: Business Insider
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