Amazon has delayed the release of its online voice assistant Alexa+, dealing another setback to the company’s efforts to keep up with ChatGPT and other AI competitors. Internal memos reviewed this week now place the earliest public launch date “no sooner than 31 July 2025.”
The company had advertised that Alexa+ would be available for chatting on the web at Alexa.com, but that feature will not launch as planned. The delay underscores Amazon’s constant struggle to offer an advanced AI assistant in this age of ChatGPT.
Amazon’s AI‑powered Alexa has faced a series of setbacks over the past few years. The company first announced its AI redesign more than a year ago, with plans to launch in November 2024. That date slipped to February 2025, then March, and now it faces further delays.
This new change in date shows how Amazon has struggled to introduce AI services for everyday users, unlike chatbots led by ChatGPT. The main holdups, according to people familiar with the program, are accuracy and reliability. In‑house testing—codenamed “Banyan”—reveals that the upgraded Alexa often provides incorrect information and can take more than six seconds to respond, both serious issues for an assistant expected to answer complex questions.
Amazon’s AI‑powered Alexa has had breaks over the past two years, and questions still remain around user experience. The company charges $19.99 (about ₦31,000) monthly for Alexa+, putting it in direct competition with ChatGPT Plus and other AI services. A limited early‑access cohort of roughly 100,000 Echo owners is currently stress‑testing the new features while engineers work on fixes.
The success of OpenAI’s assistant has pushed all major tech companies to accelerate their AI development. Apple, for example, also struggled to upgrade its Siri assistant to keep up with the progress of AI, quietly removing several features it had previously announced. Competition has intensified as users now expect AI assistants to provide precise responses rather than basic commands.
Amazon is still focused on its AI road map despite these losses. The business has teamed up with Anthropic in a $4 billion partnership and continues building its own “Olympus” large‑language model inside AWS Bedrock, even as it advertises thousands of open AI‑engineering roles.
The delay of Alexa.com highlights the challenges big tech companies face as they adapt to the rapid shift in AI. With ChatGPT and others moving fast, Amazon’s careful approach like Apple’s risks losing relevance in the ever‑changing artificial‑intelligence arena. For now, Amazon users will have to wait longer for the promised Alexa+ experience while the company works to fix the issues holding back its AI design.
Mololuwa likes to think of herself as a curious mind who is always drawn to deep conversations. A true sapio, that finds joy in good books, good food, and psychological thrillers.
She likes to think of herself as a happy person who finds meaning in every moment.
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