Amazon is bringing Alexa+ to your desktop browser to further compete with ChatGPT, Gemini and other web-based AI chatbots. The paid AI assistant was previously only available on mobile, and is now initially available on Alexa.com to a subset of users in the Alexa+ early access program, with access likely to expand in the coming weeks.
The new web portal allows users to start new chats, access and continue past Alexa chats, including ones started on other devices, and seamlessly switch back and forth between voice conversations and text chats across devices.
Todd Bishop of GeekWire wrote:
“I’ve been trying it out, and I’m already finding it quite useful as an extension of the Alexa experience. In addition to expanding the chat functionality to the browser, the web interface offers fine-grained control over reminders, calendar appointments, uploaded files, and smart home devices. For example, I was able to edit a family reminder: changing the assigned person, adjusting the date and time, setting it to repeat weekly, and adding a flag for Alexa to follow up until it’s complete. All of this happened through simple clicks, much easier than talking Alexa through the details, in my experience.”
He goes on to talk about how Alexa's smart home integration gives users the ability to control lights and plugs, view Ring cameras, and perform other home tasks with more accuracy than with voice commands or mobile inputs.
There's a running joke on TikTok about how Millennials pull out our laptops to make big purchases or perform more important tasks online — which in my experience, is spot on! Anything that involves excessive typing, opening multiple tabs, or deep research is easier on a laptop. I fit this Millennial stereotype 100%.
Will Alexa.com successfully compete with ChatGPT and Gemini?
No, likely not for online research, content creation, coding assistance, and other tasks that we've come to rely on those chatbots for — but who cares? Amazon has a few things that those companies don't:
- Hardware devices that are always listening across our homes and TVs.
- Integration with a smart home ecosystem including cameras, doorbells, alarms, and lights.
- Access to the Amazon marketplace where many consumers do over 60% of their online shopping.
- The ability to autonomously purchase items from Amazon on your behalf, backed by Amazon's customer-centric return and protection policies.
- And of course a logistics network that can get a product to your door within hours of ordering it!
These unique advantages mean Amazon doesn't have to worry about competing with OpenAI and Google at every category of AI. Amazon can simply be the best at the one area ChatGPT desperately needs for monetization — shopping. Amazon doesn't care if you continue using ChatGPT for generating silly images and getting the wrong answers to your questions, as long as you go back to Alexa when it's time to shop.
OpenAI's business model is three years old but already decades behind. The company is attempting to be everything to everyone — aiming to serve the needs of consumers, enterprises, and developers alike — but the AI habits of users have changed in recent times. We no longer rely on ONE single AI platform to serve all of our needs. I regularly switch between platforms throughout my day.
- Amazon is winning as the AI home operating system and is the only platform that can deliver a true closed-loop shopping experience.
- Google dominates real-time search and research and has a major advantage in business-task AI because its models are embedded directly into the productivity tools we already use every day.
- Anthropic outperforms everyone else at coding and is emerging as the go-to option for enterprise AI workloads.
- Grok is where you turn when safety guardrails limit what you can do on other AI platforms.
- As for Meta, I have absolutely zero unique use cases for Meta AI. Creating AI video slop, maybe?
Bringing Alexa+ to desktop browsers is a step forward in Amazon cementing its role as the de facto home operating system and AI shopping portal, meeting users everywhere they are, including meeting us old Millennials on our laptops.
