Amazon’s strategy to generate profits from its Alexa-enabled devices appears to be faltering, leading to significant losses for the company. Reports indicate that Amazon lost over $25 billion on its Echo, Kindle, and other devices from 2017 to 2021. Although the company has a broad user base, with hundreds of millions of customers using these devices, it seems that users tend to rely more on Alexa for basic functions like setting alarms rather than for purchasing products.
A former senior employee expressed concerns about hiring thousands of staff only to develop features that are not yielding intended financial returns. In light of the financial setbacks, Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy is exploring solutions, including the introduction of a paid tier for the Alexa voice assistant. However, some engineers working on this initiative are skeptical about its potential effectiveness.
An Amazon spokesperson emphasized the company’s commitment to creating value through its services, stating that significant profitable business avenues have already been established and the organization is well-positioned for future growth.
In addition, reports suggested that Amazon’s new AI-enhanced version of Alexa, showcased in September, is not yet ready for deployment. Former employees indicated that the company lacks sufficient data and the necessary hardware to support the advanced language model required for the new assistant’s capabilities. Meanwhile, Amazon has reportedly shifted its focus toward developing generative AI for its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services.
Amazon has countered these claims, asserting that its former staff are misinformed regarding current AI development efforts. The company maintains that its Artificial General Intelligence team has the required resources and that its overall objective remains to create the best personal assistant in the world.