Amazon bets on massive device footprint to scale Alexa+

Amazon plans to leverage its existing hardware footprint to scale its artificial intelligence efforts. At the CES conference in Las Vegas last week, Daniel Rausch, the vice president of Amazon Alexa and Echo, stated that the company has sold more than 600 million devices. According to Rausch, the vast majority of these devices will support Alexa+, the company’s revamped assistant platform. Specifically, Rausch noted in an interview that 97% of the devices Amazon has ever shipped can support Alexa+, representing a massive pre-installed base as the company seeks to deploy its technology directly into consumers’ homes.

Alexa+ represents Amazon’s future in the generative AI market—a category of artificial intelligence capable of generating new content. The company is focusing on bringing Alexa+ to Prime members first. Rather than launching a standalone chatbot, Amazon is positioning Alexa+ as a foundational assistant, which Rausch describes as a highly capable, primary AI tool that users engage with ambiently. This strategy aims to differentiate Amazon from competitors like Apple, Google, and other AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude. The company has been steadily expanding access; more than 1 million Alexa customers gained access to the AI platform last June, and now tens of millions of customers can opt in to upgrade to the assistant. Rausch pointed to this existing engagement as a key advantage, stating that Alexa will be one of the foundational assistants in a range of AI options, aided by the familiarity of the tens of millions of customers already engaging continuously.

Beyond its own Echo and Alexa hardware, Amazon is expanding this ecosystem through integrations with external partners. At the Las Vegas event, partners including Samsung, BMW, and Oura showcased their integrations with the assistant. Amazon is also working to integrate Bee, an AI wearable device it recently acquired. While Rausch indicated that Alexa and Bee will become more integrated in the future, he emphasized that the wearable currently has value as a standalone brand, with Daniel Rausch, the Amazon Alexa and Echo VP, calling it “an important and lovable experience.”

Why it matters

Amazon is leveraging its massive installed base of devices to compete in the generative AI market, positioning Alexa+ as a foundational assistant against competitors like Apple and Google.