Amazon’s big AI upgrade is hilariously bad

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have an Amazon Alexa device.

When it first came out, I hopped right on the train. I pretty much have one in every room. I still use it every day to turn on the lights, adjust the thermostat, and play music.

But let’s be honest...she hasn’t really gotten any smarter over the years. 

For every time Alexa gets something right, there’s another moment of, “Sorry, I don’t have an answer for that,” which usually makes me reach for my phone instead.

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So when I got the chance to test out Amazon’s new Alexa+, I was genuinely excited. 

This was supposed to be the big leap: the AI glow-up, the smart home savior, the moment Alexa finally stopped acting like that stubborn parent who clearly needs hearing aids but insists they can hear "just fine."

But after a few days of living with Alexa+, I started to wonder who greenlit this thing and said, "Yes, this is ready for the public."

Responses took longer, she got confused more easily, and at one point she responded to a weather question by playing a Pitbull song.

If this is Amazon's version of "intelligent," I'm low-key scared for the future.

Amazon’s Alexa+ upgrade fails to impress early users

Alexa+ was supposed to be Amazon’s big comeback moment.

The company teased a generative AI assistant that could finally go beyond timers and trivia...something more conversational, more intuitive. One that might actually keep up with ChatGPT or Google's Gemini.

But that’s not what users are experiencing. Not even close.

Reddit users have been quick to call it out. One post summed up the general vibe: “With all totally insane AI advancement the past few years, how come Alexa is still as dumb as 10 years ago?” wrote u/MarinatedP.

That earned a pitch-perfect comeback from u/holdmypurse: “Sorry. I don’t have an answer for that.”

Another commenter, u/deicist, speculated that the problems might be by design: “They've deliberately been removing features from Alexa for the past couple of years so that Alexa+ seems like a massive upgrade worth paying for.”

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To be fair, this is still in the early access phase and is technically a beta. But when Amazon promotes something as the future of voice, users expect more than slower responses and recycled features.

Some users are cautiously optimistic. As u/southernhope1 put it, the new experience "feels better." But others, like u/Rattus-Norvegicus1, weren’t as kind: “Alexa got dumber, if that is possible.”

The backlash and mixed reactions raise a bigger question: what does this mean for Amazon’s long-term AI strategy?

Can a trillion-dollar company really be this behind with AI?

Smart assistants aren’t just a convenience. They serve as a gateway to Amazon’s entire ecosystem. When Alexa works, she powers shopping, streaming, and smart home habits that keep people locked into the brand.

But when she stumbles, users take notice.

Voice assistant usage in the U.S. continues to grow, with projections estimating 154.3 million users in 2025 and 170.3 million by 2028. Despite that growth, Amazon is no longer leading the pack.

According to eMarketer, Alexa has about 77.6 million U.S. users in 2025 so far, trailing behind Google Assistant (92.4 million) and Apple’s Siri (87 million).

If Alexa+ can’t shift momentum, Amazon risks more than just falling behind in AI.

It could lose its role in how people interact with technology altogether. While competitors are finding ways to weave AI into nearly everything they do, Amazon is still struggling to make Alexa sound competent.

And that’s what makes this so surprising. 

This isn’t a scrappy startup. This is Amazon: a trillion-dollar company with endless resources and a multibillion-dollar stake in Anthropic, the company behind Claude.

Yet Alexa+ still feels like it’s stuck in 2016. If this is what Amazon came up with after years of development, it feels more laughable than alarming.

All we can do now is hope the official version is better.

And in the meantime, I’ll be over here asking Alexa to set a timer — just for fun, since it probably won’t go off.

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