Amazon Says 97% of Its Devices Can Support Alexa+

Amazon shared additional details about how it plans to compete in the generative AI market during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, emphasising the scale of its existing device ecosystem and consumers’ familiarity with the Alexa brand.

“Ninety-seven percent of devices we ever shipped can support Alexa+,” said Daniel Rausch, vice president of Amazon Alexa and Echo, in an interview at CES. Rausch said Amazon’s latest figures show the company has sold more than 600 million devices overall, and that the vast majority of them will be compatible with its revamped AI assistant, Alexa+.

Announced early last year, Alexa+ represents Amazon’s next phase in generative AI. The upgraded assistant features more expressive voices, access to broad world knowledge similar to other AI assistants, and AI agents capable of carrying out tasks on a user’s behalf, such as ordering food or calling a ride. Amazon has been gradually expanding access to Alexa+, with more than 1 million users onboarded by last June and “tens of millions” now able to opt in to the upgrade.

Amazon has not provided a firm timeline for when Alexa+ will be available to all users, noting that its immediate focus is rolling out the AI assistant to Prime members first.

Beyond availability, Amazon faces the challenge of proving that customers will actively use its AI features. Rausch believes Alexa’s existing presence in homes gives the company a meaningful advantage.

“I think that there’s going to be a whole range of AI out there for customers,” he said. “Alexa will be one of the foundational assistants.” While Rausch expects specialised AI tools — such as legal or domain-specific assistants — to continue to exist, he said there will be a small number of competent, broadly applicable AI platforms, and Amazon sees Alexa as one of them.

“One of the advantages Alexa has is the familiarity of customers, the tens of millions of people already engaging with it continuously,” Rausch said. “It’s in the home, ambiently available, voice-first, and built around the most natural interface. That’s our opportunity to grow.”

Amazon’s push comes as competition in consumer AI intensifies. Apple recently announced plans to integrate Gemini into Siri, while AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude continue expanding into areas ranging from research and healthcare to coding.

Ahead of CES, Amazon also unveiled web-based access to Alexa and a redesigned Alexa mobile app that places a chatbot-style interface front and centre. At the show, partners including Samsung, BMW, and Oura demonstrated new Alexa integrations across their products.

Amazon also highlighted its recent acquisition of Bee, an AI wearable that records conversations and generates insights. Users can interact with Bee through text or voice chat.

Looking ahead, Rausch said Alexa and Bee will become more closely integrated over time, while noting that Bee also has value as a standalone product. He described it as “an important and lovable experience” within Amazon’s broader AI ecosystem.