Amazon claims its ‘constantly inviting’ new customers to Alexa Plus

Yesterday, Reuters ran a story with the header “Weeks aft Amazon’s Alexa+ AI launch, a mystery: wherever are the users?,” successful which it elaborate its trouble locating first-hand accounts of the AI-upgraded assistants’ usage online. The Verge asked Amazon astir the story, and the institution has responded to accidental that the thought that Alexa Plus isn’t disposable is “simply wrong.”

Here’s the company’s afloat — and alternatively strongly-worded! — connection connected the matter, provided by Amazon spokesperson Eric Sveum via email to The Verge:

It’s simply incorrect to accidental that Alexa+ isn’t disposable to customers—that assertion is false. Hundreds of thousands of customers person entree to Alexa+ and we’re perpetually inviting much customers that person requested Early Access.

Sveum besides shared the beneath screenshot of what the email invitation should look like.

Alexa Plus is Amazon’s generative AI-updated mentation of Alexa, which it announced successful February is escaped to Amazon Prime subscribers oregon $19.99 a period otherwise.

While Reuters doesn’t accidental Alexa Plus isn’t disposable to customers yet, it does punctuation an expert who said, “There seems to beryllium nary 1 who really has it.”

The outlet besides reported that its efforts to find immoderate real-world Alexa Plus users came up empty, penning that it had “searched dozens of quality sites, YouTube, TikTok, X, BlueSky and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, arsenic good arsenic Amazon’s Twitch and reviews of Echo voice-assistant devices connected Amazon.com.” It added that it spoke with 2 radical who’d posted connected Reddit claiming to person utilized Alexa Plus, but that they “did not supply Reuters with hard grounds and their identities could not beryllium corroborated.”

Still, Engadget reported today that a question of emails had gone retired connected Friday, inviting Amazon Alexa users to effort retired Alexa Plus. The outlet besides reported that an Amazon spokesperson had told it “hundreds of thousands” of customers person tried the assistant.

Amazon started rolling retired its aboriginal entree program to a fewer customers astatine the extremity of March. At the time, it was missing features similar the quality to bid takeout from Grubhub utilizing conversational context, oregon place household members and punctual them astir chores. A page connected Amazon’s website notes that immoderate features are inactive “coming soon,” similar being capable to entree Alexa Plus successful a web browser oregon connected a Fire TV oregon Amazon tablet. The institution has said it’s prioritizing those who ain definite Echo Show devices supra others.