The biggest surprise at Amazon’s press conference last week was the lack of hardware announcements. Traditionally, Amazon announces dozens of new gadgets at its events, but this time, Amazon spent 70 minutes talking about software. Specifically, Alexa Plus, its new generative AI-powered Alexa voice assistant. And that was exactly the right move.

Some of the new abilities coming to Alexa Plus include the ability to do things for you — you’ll be able to ask it to order groceries for you or send event invites to your friends. Amazon says it will also be able to memorize personal details like your diet and movie preferences.

Amazon Prime is an excellent service if you order plenty of items from the retailer and want them delivered quickly. It also has a wealth of other benefits, including access to the Prime Video streaming service, a stack of free games through Prime Gaming, free eBooks for Kindle devices, and a whole lot more. All for one monthly fee.

Alexa+, Amazon’s revamped version of Alexa was unveiled Wednesday, bringing the popular voice assistant into the artificial intelligence era.

Alexa Plus is here but it's only supported by four Echo products as of now, and won't be supported by more than half a dozen Echo devices.

Giving Alexa the power of generative AI was already expected to be the star announcement from Amazon -- and it was. During the last Devices and Services event in 2023, Amazon announced a gen AI-powered 'Alexa+' or Alexa Plus and a new user interface coming to an Echo device near you, and the company is now making it more real than ever before.