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Amazon’s Alexa event was live today!
The AI-powered assistant will be available for $19.99 or for free if you’re an Amazon Prime member.
Panos Panay worked at Microsoft for almost two decades and presented flagship devices for the tech giant. He now works at Amazon and helped unveil Alexa+.
The updated assistant uses generative AI and reasoning to help complete tasks.
Alexa+ also remembers facts about you to cater to you specifically.
On stage was Panos Panay.
Panos Panay worked at Microsoft for almost two decades and presented flagship devices for the tech giant. He now works at Amazon and helped unveil Alexa+.
The former head of Microsoft Surface is now Amazon’s head of Devices and Services.
Surface fans will recognize Panay and his enthusiasm on stage.
He is known for caring about the products he works on and is rather effusive when presenting.
Our colleagues at TechRadar also have a full breakdown ofAlexa+.
Why did Panos Panay leave Microsoft?
Panay worked at Microsoft for over 19 years.
He was instrumental in the development of Microsoft’s Surface brand.
In recent years, Microsoft has shifted away from experimental devices.
Gone are the days of the Surface Studio, Surface Book, and Surface Duo.
Microsoft placing more experimental projects on the back burner and moving away from niche products was whyPanay left Microsoft.
While it can be argued that the new Surface strategy is necessary, it is less exciting for consumers.
Don’t get me wrong, the latest Surface devices are excellent.
TheSurface Pro 11andSurface Laptop 7earned perfect scores in our reviews.
They’re just not as niche or experimental as previous Surface devices.
Alexa+ vs ChatGPT
Amazon entered a crowded space by introducing an AI-powered assistant.
OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are just some of the tech giants with similar offerings.
I’m curious to see how Alexa+ does.
At this time, it’s not known when Alexa+ will be available for users outside the United States.
One thing we can judge right now is price.
Alexa+ will come at no additional cost to Amazon Prime members.
There were over 200 million Amazon Prime members in October 2024, according to Statista.
That’s a large target audience that can use Alexa+ for no extra cost.
$19.99 per month is in line with the cost of many other AI-powered assistants.
But those who already have Prime will likely consider Alexa+ to be “free.”
