Amazon unveiling long-awaited updates to its Echo, Ring, Fire TV, and Alexa Plus digital assistant at its devices and services event today.

Mack, Mack. Mack.

Hey, Mel. So Amazon is out with a refreshed slate of devices, including those new smart speakers and voice-activated displays.

And what is key here is that they're all being turbocharged with Alexa

Plus, its generative AI assistant.

Now, today is also very much a test for Amazon's device chief, Panos Panai, the former Microsoft

hardware exec now overseeing Amazon's biggest push yet to bake Gen AI across its devices.

Now, he said this morning that customers are shopping more with the upgraded Alexa Plus assistant,

a sign that Gen AI powered commerce may be gaining traction.

It also comes as OpenAI and Google rollout new shopping tools this week,

which is seen as an easy first step toward AI monetization.

Amazon also saying today that the rate of smart home adoption

with Alexa Plus has doubled. Now, it was only earlier this year that the company unveiled Alexa

Plus. Its limited release model has capped adoption, something the company is looking to fix,

as all new echo devices will have Alexa Plus going forward, but early customers of Amazon's Gen AI tool

have given it mixed reviews.

And critics would also argue that these Alexa upgrades

lag far behind what OpenAI, Google, and even meta are offering.

Shares of Amazon are in the red so far this year,

making it the worst performer of the Mag 7.

And today's big unveil isn't doing much to change minds.

You've got shares down one in change so far today, lagging the NASDAQ.

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