Amazon Unveils New Premium Alexa+ Devices Amid Privacy Concerns

Amazon is making bold moves to reshape its Alexa devices business, introducing a new premium tier alongside its budget-friendly offerings.

However, the move comes as Amazon phases out a key privacy feature, sparking concerns among consumers.

The company hopes to reinvigorate its voice assistant franchise by delivering higher-end gadgets with enhanced AI capabilities, improved hardware, and better security.

Amazon’s devices chief, Panos Panay, who previously spearheaded Microsoft’s Surface lineup, has unveiled plans for ‘Alexa+’. The next-generation AI-powered system will provide an upgraded voice assistant experience, with new “edge-processing” chips enabling devices to handle AI tasks locally, improving speed and privacy.

The new product lineup will include three tiers – Entry, Core, and Signature. Amazon is promising better sound quality, longer battery life, and an overall premium experience.

“We’re envisioning what’s next for customers when it comes to AI devices, and we have some incredible ones in development,” Panay told Bloomberg.

Amazon aims to leverage the Alexa+ ecosystem to retain Prime subscribers, bundling the service into its A$210 annual membership. The new AI assistant will offer improved natural language processing, allowing for more conversational interactions akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini.

Despite the innovations, Amazon has drawn criticism over privacy concerns. The company has announced that starting March 28, it will disable a setting that allowed certain Echo devices to process voice recordings locally instead of sending them to the cloud.

Previously, select Echo devices – including the Echo Dot 4th Gen and Echo Show 10 – had an opt-in setting to prevent voice recordings from being transmitted to Amazon’s servers. However, Amazon is now eliminating this option, citing the need for cloud-based AI processing to power Alexa+.

While Amazon has assured users that voice recordings will be deleted after processing, privacy advocates argue that the move reduces consumer control. The change comes in the wake of past controversies, including a 2023 fine over misleading data deletion practices and reports of employees reviewing Alexa queries to improve accuracy.

Amazon’s Alexa+ reboot signals a push into the high-end AI device market, but its success will depend on consumer trust.

As AI-driven assistants become increasingly sophisticated, users will have to weigh the convenience of smarter technology against potential privacy trade-offs. Whether Alexa+ can compete with rivals like Apple’s Siri and Google’s Gemini remains to be seen.