There's a new, improved voice assistant rolling out to users today — and no, it's not Apple Intelligence-powered Siri.
On February 4, Amazon announced that Alexa+, its next-generation voice assistant powered by generative AI, is now available for users in the U.S.
Prime members will get the feature for free. At the same time, non-Prime subscribers can access it for $19.99 a month, which is odd, considering that Amazon Prime is $139, or $14.99 per month for most.
Amazon's bolstered voice assistant has been in early access for some time, with more than a million users testing it over the past year. Amazon says that customers interact with Alexa+ more than "twice as much" — presumably over the stock Alexa.
Alexa+ comes equipped with new agentic capabilities, powered by Amazon Nova and Anthropic. It can order takeout, find restaurants and make reservations, book rides, and schedule services like home repairs.
It's also more conversational. A few AppleInsider staffers have been testing it out, with generally positive outlooks on the implementation, if not the privacy policies.
And, we've found that the Apple Music skill works better with Alexa+ than it ever did with the basic Alexa service.
Starting on February 4, Prime members can begin using Alexa+ by saying "Alexa, upgrade to Alexa+." They can also upgrade via Alexa.com.
Tethered to a user's Amazon account, Alexa+ gives users unlimited access across all Alexa-enabled devices, Alexa.com, and the Alexa app.
If you don't have a Prime subscription and you're not ready to pay, you can still try out Alexa+ chat, available at Alexa.com and in the Alexa app. This text-based interface functions like many other chatbots, including ChatGPT, and can be used to get quick answers, plan projects, do research, and explore new topics.
The free Alexa+ chat is considered a simple preview version of Alexa+. Free chat users will not get unlimited use.
Siri lags behind
News of the Alexa+ launch is somewhat sobering for Apple, which is more than a year and a half late in meeting its initial deadline for the "new, improved Siri." The company had hoped to initially launch the more personalized assistant in September 2025.
However, the somewhat glacial rollout of Apple Intelligence, alongside iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, was missing the key feature. The company pushed the rollout to coincide with the release of iOS 18.4, but would ultimately miss that date as well.
In late 2025, Apple CEO Tim Cook suggested that the long-awaited Apple Intelligence-enhanced Siri would arrive "on time" in 2026, implying that Apple's delayed AI ambitions are back on track. At that time, no concrete date was given, other than noting that it would happen at some point in the calendar year.
Recently, reports suggested that iOS 26.4, suspected to roll out in March or April, will be the update that finally brings the enhanced, more personalized Siri to users' pockets. However, it's also been reported that Apple's engineers feel like Siri may not be ready for release then, either.
