Amazon is considering shoving ads into Alexa+ conversations
Since 2023, Amazon has been framing Alexa+ as a monumental evolution of Amazon's voice assistant that will make it more conversational, capable, and, for Amazon, lucrative. Amazon said in a press release on Thursday that it has given early access of the generative AI voice assistant to millions" of people. The product isn't publicly available yet, and some advertised features are still unavailable, but Amazon's CEO is already considering loading the chatbot up with ads.
During an investors call yesterday, as reported by TechCrunch, Andy Jassy noted that Alexa+ started rolling out as early access to some customers in the US and that a broader rollout, including internationally, should happen later this year. An analyst on the call asked Amazon executives about Alexa+'s potential for increasing engagement" long term.
Per a transcript of the call, Jassy responded by saying, in part, "I think over time, there will be opportunities, you know, as people are engaging in more multi-turn conversations to have advertising play a role to help people find discovery and also as a lever to drive revenue."