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Amazon Might Bring Ads to Alexa Plus: Here’s What That Could Mean for You

This marks a big shift for Alexa, which until now has mostly steered clear of overt advertising.

Amazon’s Alexa could soon start pitching you more than just the weather. According to reporting from Amazon’s July 31 second-quarter earnings call, the company is considering adding ads to Alexa Plus, its premium AI-driven assistant that’s designed to be more conversational and useful than the Alexa you know. 

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy reportedly said that Alexa Plus could open the door to «significant financial opportunity» by delivering ads during conversations.

A representative for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: I’m Still Waiting for Amazon’s Big Alexa AI Upgrade. Here’s What to Know About the Delay

If the plan moves forward, it would mark a big shift for Alexa, which until now has mostly steered clear of overt advertising. For now, it’s unclear what exactly such advertising would look like, but the idea is that Alexa Plus could showcase ads for products users may be interested in buying and highlight deals.

Amazon hasn’t confirmed any details yet, but the move wouldn’t be too surprising. Alexa has struggled to make money for Amazon, and the company has been racing to give its voice assistant an AI upgrade that can compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. The thinking is that adding ads could help Amazon recoup some of those AI costs, but it might make the user experience less compelling.

Read more: Meta’s All In on AI Creating the Ads You See on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp

Alexa Plus was announced in February earlier this year and is available for early access for those who own a compatible Echo device. The service costs $20 per month, but is free for Amazon Prime members. While there are no set plans for advertising in Alexa, it’s worth keeping an eye on how Amazon plans to roll out these changes and whether you’ll have the option to pay to skip the ads altogether.

Technologies

Apple Reportedly Working on a ChatGPT-Like Search Experience

Apple’s large internal AI push is aimed at catching up with its competition.

Apple is internally working on a «ChatGPT-like search experience» to instantly generate answers for users, according to a report from Bloomberg on Sunday. 

The Answers, Knowledge and Information team, or AKI, is a team within Apple looking to make internal AI products for its devices. The company is reportedly building an «answer engine» — an AI-powered service that pulls from information online to answer general queries. It’s also possible that a separate app might be developed. This AI search could power Siri, Spotlight and Safari. 

A representative for Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

With companies like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI all investing billions in AI development, Apple has notably been absent from  the race. Instead of rushing to build AI models that could power the next generation of Siri, Apple opted to partner with OpenAI and leverage its technology. 

With the launch of the iPhone 16, Apple introduced Apple Intelligence, AI on the iPhone that could assist in text generation, photo editing and summarization. The implementation, however, felt half-baked to many, and the rollout was slow. 

Apple’s place in the AI race

Reports surfaced earlier this year that Apple was looking to purchase Perplexity, an AI company that’s taking on Google with an AI-powered search engine. Adding Perplexity to Apple’s portfolio would certainly help propel the company in the AI race. It would also lessen its reliance on Google. 

Currently, Apple has a lucrative $20 billion per year deal with Google to allow it to be the default search engine on Apple devices. That’s also why Apple hasn’t built its own competing search engine  — although, Apple argues that even if the deal didn’t exist, we can’t assume it’d have made a competing search engine. 

That deal is now on shaky ground after the Department of Justice’s antitrust division sued Google and won, declaring the company is maintaining an illegal monopoly in online search. As a judge weighs remedies in this case, Apple has been barred from participating in the case, meaning Apple could lose $12.5 billion in annual revenue if the DOJ forces how Google makes these deals. 

Creating a new AI-powered search engine within Apple might unwind the strands between Google and the iPhone maker, but could lead to more competition in the online search and AI markets.

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Today Only: Act Fast to Save $5 on a Nintendo eGift Card at Newegg

The eGift card will help you buy $50 of Nintendo gear or games for just $45.

Gaming is an exciting hobby. There are always new games, accessories and even tech releases (like the recent Nintendo Switch 2). However, it’s no secret that these innovations and games can cost serious money. That’s why our dedicated shopping team at CNET is always on the lookout for ways you can save. Just today, we spotted this Nintendo eGift Card for $5 off at Newegg when you use the coupon code SSEV458 at checkout. It’ll score you a $50 gift card for $45. But the deal is available today only, so you should act fast.

This eGift Card is for those with US Nintendo accounts only and is delivered via email after purchase. You can save the email, print it or add it to your Google Pay or Apple wallet to use it at another time. Newegg also allows you to give this card to someone else — it’s the perfect way to celebrate an upcoming birthday or another special occasion.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

This Nintendo eGift Card can be used at Nintendo’s eShop and is a great way to grab $50 worth of goods for $45. The Nintendo eShop includes games, official accessories, merch and more. Keep in mind that this is a final sale item, and it can’t be returned or exchanged after purchase.

Why this deal matters

Nintendo is behind legendary games such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong and more. Its official accessories, consoles and merch can be pricey, but this $50 eGift card for just $45 deal at Newegg is a way to get more value from your hard-earned gold coins. You must redeem the promo code SSEV458 at checkout to get this discount.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Deals: Save Up to $2,000 on This Premium Foldable

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