However, Amazon is facing competition in the AI sector from rivals like Microsoft and OpenAI. The new version of Alexa promises a more conversational tone, similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice mode. Despite this, beta users have reported slow, stilted, and unhelpful responses from the AI, and it has had issues with simple tasks like turning on lights.
Key takeaways:
- Amazon is investing an additional $4 billion into AI maker Anthropic, bringing the total funding to $8 billion.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) will be Anthropic’s “primary training partner” and will use Trainium and Inferentia chips for future models.
- The AI from Anthropic is set to power Amazon’s new Alexa voice assistant, which is expected to be released in 2025.
- Despite the improvements, some beta users have reported issues with the new version of Alexa, including slow and unhelpful responses and difficulty turning on lights.