Amazon's Alexa Struggles to Keep Up in the AI Race

As the AI world evolves rapidly, Amazon's Alexa seems to be falling behind. Tech giants like Apple and Google are making big strides with their AI models, while purpose-built AI companies are growing stronger. However, Alexa, once a pioneer, is struggling to catch up. A recent report from Bloomberg reveals that Amazon is having trouble creating a "smart" AI brain for Alexa. Back in June, Fortune highlighted Amazon's slow progress with Alexa 2. 0. Meanwhile, other companies were announcing big improvements. Google's Gemini AI assistant and Apple's Siri 2. 0 were getting upgrades, and OpenAI released GPT-4o. Since then, AI has become even more advanced. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Search, Apple integrated ChatGPT with Siri, and Google is expected to announce Gemini 2. 0. The reports suggest Alexa faces several issues. One source compared Alexa to an automated phone tree, not a true AI. The system is outdated and lacks clear leadership direction. Alexa was built on a rules-based system, which doesn't allow for natural conversations. When Amazon tried to improve this, Alexa started hallucinating, rambling, or going on strange tangents. Worse, these efforts made Alexa worse at managing smart home requests. Amazon's plan to release a new Alexa by 2024 has been delayed. They announced new AI skills for Alexa in January but pushed the timeline to a vague point in 2025. Competitors are moving ahead in both chatbot and AI-powered smart home spaces. It's unclear what Amazon wants Alexa to be capable of doing now.