I asked the VP of Alexa+ about Amazon’s AI coming to new smart glasses — ‘You’re going to

January 10, 2026

Amazon Alexa+ graphic
(Image credit: Amazon)

Could 2026 be the year that Amazon’s AI-powered assistant really comes into its own? While Alexa+ is still technically in its early-access phase, it’s now available in millions of Echo smart speakers and displays, and Amazon recently updated both its smartphone app and launched Alexa.com last week, which allows users to access the company’s AI assistant through a web browser.

Since the launch of Alexa+, engagement with the assistant has jumped by scores over the older Alexa, with customers using it two to three times more frequently. In particular, Alexa+ users are interacting with smart home devices — such as creating routines or even just turning their lights on and off — more than 50% more than before.

It’s been about four months since we last met. What has been the biggest change in Alexa+ since then?

Scale, for sure. We’re now well into tens of millions of customers and you know that you see the product working for so many. We made some hard but important decisions about what we would do. It’s one continuous experience with Alexa. You don’t use two different wake words. There are other AI agents out there you talk to in different ways, you have to use a different wake word to get different capabilities. Customers can’t keep track of that.

We’re already seeing early customers continuously being in touch with Alexa throughout the day. I think that that’s new and different and exciting. You used to leave home and most customers left their connection with Alexa. Some have Frames and Buds, but, you know, now every customer can keep in touch with Alexa in great new ways. I think that’s really exciting.

Daniel Rausch

(Image credit: Amazon)

We imagine being with customers everywhere they want Alexa and it turns out they really want Alexa Plus everywhere and all day.

Daniel Rausch, Vice President of Alexa and Fire TV

Does having Alexa+ on Alexa.com, as well as smart home devices give you an edge over other agents that might be just limited to a phone or a browser?

I mean more places for using your assistant is, you know, it’s — we already see it in what customers do. It’s by definition better. Customers are asking for more places to access Alexa and I do see it as an advantage.

My daughter used it to study for a chemistry test. She was curious about all the elements where the element symbol doesn’t match the name, the ones that are hard to remember. Alexa gave her the complete list of ones that don’t match, and wrote a quiz for her in the browser, and then [my daughter] did it on the Echo Show that we have in the kitchen after dinner. So things like that, when you see the magic of having Alexa available everywhere just gives us a lot of inspiration and excitement.

There are some things that you can’t do on the Alexa.com that you can do or say on your phone and smart speaker. Are you worried about confusing customers?

We haven’t thought about it as we have to do everything everywhere. We’re really focusing on the things we know customers start with, like in our betas and our early rollouts with customers that we really see customers prioritizing.

I think referring customers to the right place to get a job done that’s best and easiest is totally fine. Customers who are kind of power users of routines are super fluent with the touch-and drag-interface of a phone, which you just can’t do in a browser.

[When editing a smart home routine], frankly the phone — the app — it’s just the best place to do it. You carry your phone to the place where you want to see the routine happen. We have customers that want to do that.

But frankly now the majority of routines are created in voice. My wife created her first routine with Alexa Plus and now has created many with the simplicity of voice. She wouldn’t even know to tell you that they’re routines. It’s just what she told Alexa to always do or do on Tuesdays or what have you. So I think putting — making sure Alexa can do the right thing in the right place is how we think about it.

You just mentioned the Buds and the Frames in terms of getting Alexa in more places. Now that Alexa Plus has all these increased capabilities, are you looking at improving the hardware to be able to use it more capably?

You’re going to hear things from us in 2026. I think we know that customers want Alexa with them in more places including with them all day and including outside the home. The existing Frames and Buds are already great places to do that and we see customers taking advantage of those for sure.

Imagine the possibilities when you get to talk to Maria [Maria de Lourdes Zollo, the cofounder of Bee, a wearable AI bracelet] and you think about how there can be one continuous, AI story for customers throughout the day as well. There’s definitely a future to imagine there in terms of Bee and Alexa together. But also just stay tuned for other things. We imagine being with customers everywhere they want Alexa and it turns out they really want Alexa Plus everywhere and all day.


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