Amazon rolls out Alexa+ to more Early Access users

Access to Amazon's new AI-enhanced voice assistant, Alexa+, is expanding. The company has started notifying users who signed up for the Early Access program that they can now activate Alexa+. It's been a few months since Amazon first demoed the smarter version of Alexa, saying at the time that it would begin rolling out to the first batch of users in March before coming to more people in waves over the subsequent months, prioritizing Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 owners.

According to an Amazon spokesperson, "hundreds of thousands" of customers have tried out Alexa+ so far. For those who got Alexa+ in the initial Early Access phase, though, the assistant arrived without many of the features the company touted during its February announcement. The Washington Post, citing internal company documents, reported that this is because those tools didn't "yet meet Amazon’s standards for public release." In a footnote on its Early Access signup page, Amazon notes that some of the features shown are still in development.

Per Amazon's email on Friday to the latest wave of users, you'll only need to activate and set up Alexa + on one device. From there, any other compatible devices you own will automatically be upgraded. Alexa+ is said to be more conversational and capable of handling more complex tasks than the original assistant.