Amazon Preparing Alexa Plus AI Upgrade to Support More Complex Smart Home Devices
Amazon is developing the Alexa Plus smart assistant to support a wider range of smart home devices and external services, alongside launching a suite of AI developer tools and the Model Context Protocol standard.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Alexa Plus is receiving an AI upgrade to support more complex commands and smart home devices.
- Expanded integrations added for popular brands such as Bosch, iRobot, Yale Home, Whirlpool, and Eufy.
- Utilizes the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to enable broader integration with external systems.
- Supports new services like Priceline for hotel bookings and payments through Amazon Wallet.
Amazon is preparing to release a major update to its Alexa Plus smart assistant, which is currently in preview. This update will allow the system to connect with smart home devices in new ways and handle increasingly complex commands from users worldwide.
With this update, Alexa Plus will be able to integrate and work alongside technology from a variety of leading brands—including Bosch, Delta, Ecovacs, iRobot, Yale Home, Whirlpool, Tapo, Eufy, and others—while seamlessly and automatically routing requests to the correct devices.
Amazon gave a real-world usage example: if a user has a compatible washing machine and commands, "Alexa, my kid’s soccer jersey could use a deep clean, but the tag says cold wash only," the Alexa Plus system will filter through the machine's wash cycle options and instantly select the most appropriate setting. These capabilities are powered by a new suite of AI developer tools from Amazon designed to make it easier for device manufacturers to integrate with Alexa Plus, including devices with unique features that were previously unsupported.
The adoption of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) marks a significant step for Amazon in opening up external devices and services to communicate with AI using a standardized approach. This helps reduce development limitations and allows users to execute cross-platform commands much more smoothly, going beyond traditional in-home hardware control.
Back in February, Amazon launched an overhauled version of its smart assistant capable of handling multi-step commands and building daily routines via voice. At the time, its functionality remained limited to only a select group of external services such as Ticketmaster, OpenTable, Uber, Thumbtack, Expedia, Yelp, Square, and Angi.
To overcome these limitations, Amazon has turned to adopting the open standard Model Context Protocol (MCP), which enables AI models to connect more conveniently with external systems and tools. This allows more brands to interact with Alexa Plus, with companies like Canva, Headspace, Priceline, Lyft, Cengage, Virgin Atlantic, and Weekend scheduled to launch their system integrations within this year.
Additionally, services such as Priceline will allow customers to browse hotel options and book trips directly through Alexa Plus. Furthermore, Priceline is preparing to support payment processing via Amazon Wallet soon, alongside Atom Tickets, Cengage, Fandango, and Taskrabbit.
Source: The Verge
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