AMAZON TO LAUNCH NEW AI-POWERED ALEXA USING ANTHROPIC'S CLAUDE

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

Amazon will release a revamped version of its Alexa voice assistant in October. It will be powered by AI models from Anthropic's Claude rather than Amazon's own in-house AI technology, as Amazon's internal software reportedly struggled with performance issues during initial testing. The new Alexa will enable users to engage in more complex, context-aware conversations with the assistant. Amazon plans to offer the upgraded Alexa as a paid subscription service, separate from existing Prime memberships, with pricing likely to be between $5 to $10 per month.