Amazon launched Alexa.com at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday, rolling it out to Alexa+ Early Access customers to extend its AI-powered assistant online like ChatGPT or Google Gemini.
The website represents Amazon’s AI-powered overhaul of its digital assistant, now called Alexa+. Alexa-powered devices, such as Echo smart speakers and screens, have reached over 600 million units sold worldwide. Amazon seeks to position Alexa+ competitively by making it accessible everywhere, including homes, phones, and the web. This expansion allows interactions with Alexa+ without requiring a home device.
Amazon is updating the Alexa mobile app to prioritize an agent-forward experience. The app’s homepage now features a chatbot-style interface, shifting focus from previous features to chatting capabilities. Previously, chatting existed in the app, but other functions now appear secondary.
On Alexa.com, users access Alexa+ for tasks like exploring complex topics, creating content, and planning trip itineraries. Amazon differentiates Alexa+ by targeting family needs in the home. Functions include smart device control, similar to the original Alexa, along with managing family calendars or to-do lists, making dinner reservations, adding items to Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods carts, discovering and saving recipes to a library, and planning family movie nights with personalized recommendations.
Amazon has integrated additional services into Alexa+, adding Angi, Expedia, Square, and Yelp. These join existing partners such as Fodor’s, OpenTable, Suno, Ticketmaster, Thumbtack, and Uber. The integrations expand Alexa+’s utility for family-oriented tasks.
The Alexa.com interface includes a navigation sidebar for quick access to frequently used features. Users can resume tasks like setting the thermostat, checking calendars for appointments, reviewing shopping lists, and similar activities without restarting processes.
Amazon encourages users to share personal documents, emails, and calendar data with Alexa+. This positions Alexa+ as a central hub for household management, tracking details such as children’s school holidays, soccer schedules, doctors’ appointments, the dog’s last rabies shot date, or a neighbor’s backyard BBQ timing. Amazon lacks its own productivity suite or extensive personal data compared to rivals like Google. Instead, it relies on users forwarding and uploading files for Alexa+ to monitor. Uploading files now works on Alexa.com, with shared information displayable and manageable on Echo Show screens.
Daniel Rausch, VP of Alexa and Echo at Amazon, stated in an interview with TechCrunch, “Seventy-six percent of what customers are using Alexa+ for that no other AI can do.” He described this statistic as interesting for two reasons. First, customers rely on Alexa+ for unique tasks. For example, users send a photograph of an old family recipe to Alexa+, then discuss it while cooking, substitute ingredients based on available items, and complete the process. Rausch noted that the remaining 24 percent of usage covers tasks other AIs handle, suggesting a shift in user AI preferences toward Alexa+.
Alexa.com launches initially for Early Access customers signing in with their Amazon accounts. Amazon began Early Access rollout for Alexa+ early last year, now reaching over 10 million consumers. These users engage in two to three times more conversations with Alexa+ than with the original Alexa. Shopping occurs three times more frequently, recipe usage five times more, and heavy smart-home users control devices 50 percent more with Alexa+ compared to the original.
Online forums and social media report complaints about Alexa+ misfires and errors. Rausch views these as over-represented online. Opt-out rates after trying Alexa+ average in the low single digits, described as “effectively … almost none.” He added, “Ninety-seven percent of Alexa devices support Alexa+, and we see now in adoption from customers that they’re using Alexa across all those many years and many generations of devices.”
Alexa+ preserves all capabilities of the original Alexa. It carries forward integrations with tens of thousands of services and devices. This ensures continuity for existing users across device generations.
The launch aligns with Amazon’s strategy to broaden Alexa+’s reach. Over 600 million Alexa devices worldwide provide a foundation, but web access via Alexa.com targets broader adoption. Early Access data shows increased engagement: conversations up 2-3 times, shopping tripled, recipes quintupled, and smart-home control boosted 50 percent for heavy users. The 76 percent unique usage rate, as per Rausch, highlights tasks like interactive recipe handling from photos, unavailable elsewhere.
Family-centric features emphasize practical home management. Users update shared calendars for school events, sports, medical visits, pet vaccinations, and social gatherings. Service expansions to Angi for home services, Expedia for travel, Square for payments, and Yelp for reviews complement partners like Fodor’s for travel guides, OpenTable for dining, Suno for music, Ticketmaster for events, Thumbtack for local services, and Uber for rides.
The mobile app redesign centers chatting on the homepage, de-emphasizing other tabs. Sidebar navigation on the web speeds access to thermostat adjustments, appointment views, and list reviews. Personal data sharing, including documents and emails, enables Echo Show visualization, fostering a unified family information center.
Rausch’s insights detail usage patterns. The 24 percent overlap with other AIs indicates growing preference for Alexa+. Low opt-outs and 97 percent device compatibility across years and models support sustained adoption. All original integrations remain intact, maintaining ecosystem breadth.
