Wed. 02/26 – Alexa+
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4.7 • 984 Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2025
⏱️ 18 minutes
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Summary
Amazon finally updated Alexa with generative AI. It’s called Alexa+ and it can do plenty of neat things, but unless you’re a Prime subscriber, it’s gonna cost ya. DeepSeek is rushing its next AI model to press its momentum. Zuck wants to build a $200B AI datacenter. And how the SteamDeck has created a whole new category in gaming.
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Links:
- Amazon announces AI-powered Alexa Plus (The Verge)
- Amazon unveils a new and improved Alexa, Alexa+ (TechCrunch)
- DeepSeek rushes to launch new AI model as China goes all in (Reuters)
- Meta Discusses AI Data Center Project That Could Cost $200 Billion (The Information)
- How North Korea pulled off a $1.5 billion crypto heist—the biggest in history (ArsTechnica)
- Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming (The Verge)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the TechMeme right home for Wednesday, February 26, 2025. I'm Brian McCullough today. |
| 0:09.1 | Amazon-friendly updated Alexa with generative AI. It's called Alexa Plus, and it can do plenty of neat things, |
| 0:14.6 | but unless you're a prime subscriber, it's going to cost you. DeepSeek is rushing its next AI model to press its momentum. |
| 0:20.8 | Zuck wants to build a $200 billion AI data center and how the Steam Deck has created a whole new category in gaming. |
| 0:27.3 | Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. |
| 0:33.1 | Amazon just unveiled Alexa Plus, the long-awaited generative AI version of the voice assistant |
| 0:38.6 | we know and love trained to detect tone and mood. Quoting The Verge, Amazon first announced |
| 0:44.2 | it was going to supercharge Alexa with AI back in September 2023. Back then, the company made a |
| 0:49.6 | lot of big claim saying that Alexa would understand context or build automated routines for you. |
| 0:54.3 | You need it only ask. But by the following June, around when Apple announced its own Siri AI upgrade, |
| 0:59.7 | reports emerged that the company was struggling to realize its efforts and that some employees |
| 1:03.1 | were leaving because they didn't think this version of Alexa would ever work, end quote. |
| 1:07.6 | And quoting TechCrunch. Amazon says that the new Alexa can answer questions like, |
| 1:11.6 | How many books have I read this year, drawing on info from an Amazon customer account. It can |
| 1:16.2 | notify users when, for example, new tickets for a concert drop and help with certain tasks like |
| 1:20.4 | booking a dinner reservation. Like other assistants on the market, the upgraded Alexa has |
| 1:24.7 | visual understanding through a device's camera. It can take in a |
| 1:28.3 | visual feed and respond to questions taking whatever's happening in the feed into account. |
| 1:33.0 | The new Alexa knows almost everything in your life, your schedule, your smart home, |
| 1:36.5 | your preferences, the devices you're using, the people you're connected to, and the entertainment |
| 1:40.9 | you enjoy. Amazon's devices and services chief Panos Panos Panay said. |
| 1:45.0 | Penae said that the improved Alexa can understand tone and the environment around it and adjust |
... |
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