Amazon is gearing up to release an even more powerful version of its Alexa voice assistant in October, just in time for the holiday season

Internally dubbed “Remarkable,” this upcoming version will be largely driven by Anthropic's Claude AI model instead of Amazon's in-house AI technology used to date

Claude is a powerful set of models comparable to OpenAI's GPT-4 This move makes sense since Amazon is a major investor in Anthropic and its models are available on the AWS cloud

If you want to get the most out of the current generation of Alexa, Amazon is currently offering the 2024 Echo Spot at 31% off $79 to $54 for a limited time

The decision to integrate with Claude AI was made because Amazon's initial efforts to replicate Alexa in-house with more advanced models proved very problematic, according to people familiar with the development

These in-house models were slow to respond, taking six to seven seconds or more to process a user command before responding This delay is unacceptable for next-generation voice assistants that need to compete with state-of-the-art AI systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT Voice and Google's Gemini As for machine learning models, we start with those built by Amazon, but we have used and will continue to use a variety of different models, including Titan, future Amazon models, and those of our partners, to build the best experience for our customers This makes it easy for application developers to seamlessly use the world's best performing models and multiple models through a single API,” said a spokesperson for AlexaClaude The AI chatbot developed by Anthropic outperformed Amazon's model Claude, the company has shifted its policy toward using this external technology This is particularly interesting given that Amazon typically prefers to develop its technology in-house in order to have complete control over the user experience and data management

Still, in the context of a highly competitive and rapidly evolving AI landscape, Amazon chose the atypical path of embracing external partnerships

The next “Remarkable” Alexa will be much more than just a voice assistant It aims to provide a richer, more interactive experience by allowing users to give longer and more complex commands This is similar to the way they have engaged with Gemini Live and ChatGPT Voice

For example, one could ask Alexa to compose an email, order dinner, or set a reminder Compared to what Alexa does today, this is a quantum leap from simply setting a timer, playing music, and answering simple questions

Amazon also envisions the new Alexa as a central hub for smart home automation that learns and adapts over time Thus, Alexa will automatically set your morning alarm, turn the thermostat temperature up or down, or record your favorite TV shows without prompting

These new features sound promising, but they come at a price Amazon reportedly plans to charge $5 and $10 per month for access to “Remarkable” Alexa Many have raised skeptical eyebrows at this development

It will be quite difficult to convince users to pay for the upgrade, since the service is currently completely free Many people already pay $139 per year for Amazon Prime

Despite these concerns, however, Amazon is optimistic that the additional features that “Remarkable” Alexa will give will justify the subscription fee, especially as the company seeks to make Alexa an ultimately profitable part of its business

If even 10% of the 100 million active Alexa users move to the paid service, it would add at least $600 million annually OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google all offer monthly subscriptions, and Apple is rumored to be working on a paid version of Apple Intelligence

The launch of “Remarkable” Alexa represents a pivotal moment as Amazon struggles to maintain its leadership in the voice assistant market

Competition is intensifying and consumer expectations are rising In short, the success or failure of the new AI-powered Alexa will mean the future direction of Amazon's smart home ecosystem The whole world is watching Amazon to see if this will bear fruit or be another misstep that will force the company to readjust its strategy