Amazon brings generative AI to Alexa | TechCrunch

During a press event this morning at its HQ2 headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, Amazon announced that it’ll soon use a new generative AI model to power new experiences across its Echo family of devices.

“Our latest model has been specifically optimized for voice and the things we know our customers love — like having access to real-time information, efficiently controlling their smart home, and getting the most out of their home entertainment,” Dave Limp, the SVP of devices and services at Amazon, said onstage.

Amazon says that the new model will power more conversational experiences — experiences that take into account body language as well as a person’s eye contact and gestures. It’ll interact with APis to enable new smart home capabilities. And it’ll give Alexa a bigger — and more opinionated — personality.

“The capabilities … deliver unique experiences based on the preferences that you’ve shared, the services that you’ve interacted with and the information about the environment in and around your home,” Limp said. “This [new model] will allow you to surface personal reminders. For example, it can help you with recently-played music, or even come up with recipe recommendations based on your grocery purchases.”

Soon, customers in the U.S. will get access to these new capabilities through a free preview on Echo devices they already own, Amazon says.