- Prime members are pushed to Alexa+
- Many users complained about the mandatory upgrade
- It’s still possible to revert to the old Alexa
Early last year, Amazon unveiled Alexa+, a next-generation upgrade designed to support ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The AI rollout has been quite slow since then, but now Prime members are automatically upgraded – and many aren’t happy about it.
As spotted by The Verge, numerous Reddit threads are relaying the upgrade message some Prime members are receiving. The upgrade “only takes a few minutes and requires no action on your part,” according to the note.
There is no way to unsubscribe from the upgrade – it happens automatically. However, users can still revert to the old AI if they want, by saying “Alexa, leave Alexa+” within range of one of their smart speakers or displays.
From the start, Amazon said Alexa+ would be a free perk for Prime users (otherwise costing $19.99 per month – pricing outside the US has yet to be confirmed). It delivers on that promise, but many users aren’t too happy about being forced to upgrade.
Broken features and too many ads
War has been declared. from r/alexa
“It’s all the non-consent that’s bothering me right now,” one Reddit user wrote, while another said, “I don’t want an assistant with attitude.” Many people report mixed experiences with Alexa+ and revert to the older version of Alexa on their smart devices.
In a separate thread, one user tells Amazon to “stop shoving it down my throat,” and another complains that Alexa+ can’t read Kindle books aloud like the standard Kindle does. Missing features seem to be part of the problem here.
Other complaints about Alexa+ include slow response times, too many ads, and the style of the new voices. The enhanced AI – powered by Large Language Models (LLM) – is intended to be smarter and more versatile than standard Alexa.
Whether users like it or not, Amazon clearly sees Alexa+ as the future. The AI bot recently launched on the web, although we’re still waiting for the upgrade to be available to users, Prime members or not, outside of the US.
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