On Wednesday, Amazon said its AI assistant, Alexa+, will be rolled out to all compatible Fire TV devices in the U. for free, whether or not the customer has a Prime subscription. The update brings conversational search, smart home controls, and AI-powered recommendations, the company says. Previously, Alexa+ cost $19. 99 per month for anyone who didn't have an Amazon Prime membership, and was initially made available to the new Fire TV devices the company announced last fall.
The move follows an industry-wide push to make AI services available on more consumer electronic devices, often through non-optional upgrades like this. Google, for instance, rolled out Gemini to its Google TV platform earlier this year, replacing simple search features with AI-powered conversational modes. Roku upgraded its voice assistant to AI last year, too. The companies point to metrics like time spent with the features to suggest positive consumer adoption trends.
For instance, Amazon says that Alexa+ customers now have nearly twice as many conversations on Fire TV as they did with the original Alexa, which apparently suggests that customers with Alexa+ are no longer using their TV only as a lean-back source of entertainment, and are instead engaging with the AI, too. Amazon says that with Alexa+, users don't have to ask for shows by title, but can instead ask for suggestions based on other factors such as theme, age or popularity — for example, "a top-rated thriller" or "a historical drama with a strong female lead.
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