Amazon's new 'remarkable' Alexa could be released in October

Amazon Alexa could be getting a much needed overhaul before the end of this year

• 🤖 Amazon Alexa is getting an overhaul

• 💰 A new paid tier will be available

• 💪 It’ll be powered by Anthropic’s Claude AI

• 📉 Amazon’s Alexa is a popular assistant, but the division remains unprofitable

Amazon could release a new version of Alexa, its popular AI assistant, as soon as October. But it won’t be powered by the company’s artificial intelligence tech.

According to a report from Reuters, the new Alexa will be powered by Anthropic’s Claude AI, a company that Amazon invested around $4 billion in last year. Amazon plans to charge between $5 and $10 per month for its “Remarkable Alexa”.

The “classic” voice assistant will still be offered for free, but Remarkable Alexa will be far more powerful and Amazon hopes it will be capable enough to let users shop through the device.

Despite being widely adopted and one of the first big AI successes, the Alexa division has remained unprofitable. Amazon hopes a paid subscription and more capable assistant will change that.

In a response to Reuters’ questions about using Anthropic’s AI, an Amazon spokeswoman said:

“Amazon uses many different technologies to power Alexa. When it comes to machine learning models, we start with those built by Amazon, but we have used, and will continue to use, a variety of different models – including (Amazon AI model) Titan and future Amazon models, as well as those from partners – to build the best experience for customers.”

The AI craze isn’t going anywhere and the launch of Apple Intelligence will only accelerate things further when the iPhone 16 launches. Apple’s iPhone 16 will reportedly launch on September 10, along with new AirPods and Apple Watches.

Up next: Apple Sports app gets football update, promises Live Activities in iOS 18

Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.