Alexa+ Unveiled: Amazon’s Latest Assistant Hits Beta in France!

The launch of Alexa+ in France appears to be imminent. One of our readers has shared an email invitation to join the beta testing of Amazon’s upgraded voice assistant, which is powered by artificial intelligence. Initially launched in the United States earlier this year, Alexa+ is expected to be available to all French users in the coming months.

Enhanced Interaction with Alexa+

The core idea of Alexa+ is to enable more natural conversations between the user and the assistant. It is designed to understand vague questions and gather information from multiple sources (such as cameras, online services, and browsing history). Additionally, Alexa+ can create complex routines entirely via voice commands and utilizes extensive music and movie databases to discuss recently viewed or listened to content.

Alexa+ also integrates with a wide array of services including Uber, Spotify, Netflix, and Disney+. Initially, the service was introduced in the United States with a subscription fee of $19.99, which is included for Amazon Prime subscribers.

The initial rollout of Alexa+ was not without its challenges, and it lacked many important features as of April. By the end of summer, the service still struggled with some basic functions that were handled by the non-AI version. This version also faced the common issue of “hallucinations” experienced by large language models (LLMs), requiring users to adapt to a new, more fluid way of speaking.

Selected individuals were notified by an email from Amazon containing a link to a registration questionnaire. They have until November 30 to respond. Participants will be able to switch easily between the current version of Alexa and Alexa+, which will be available in French. The new assistant will be supported on most Echo models, except for some very old ones. It is worth noting that the platform is currently offering discounts on products like the Echo Dot Max and the Echo Show 8, with price reductions of a few tens of euros.