Amazon Alexa - Wikipedia

Alexa was developed out of a predecessor named Ivona which was invented in Poland, inspired by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and bought by Amazon in 2013.[11][4] On November 6, 2014, Amazon announced Alexa alongside the Echo.[12][13] Amazon developers chose the name Alexa because it has a hard consonant with the X, which helps it be recognized with higher precision. They have said the name is reminiscent of the Library of Alexandria, which was also used by Amazon Alexa Internet for the same reason.[14][15][16] In June 2015, Amazon announced the Alexa Fund, a program that would invest in companies making voice control skills and technologies. The US$200 million fund has invested in companies including Jargon, Ecobee, Orange Chef, Scout Alarm, Garageio, Toymail, MARA, and Mojio.[17] In 2016, the Alexa Prize was announced to further advance the technology.

In January 2017, the first Alexa Conference took place in Nashville, Tennessee, an independent gathering of the worldwide community of Alexa developers and enthusiasts.[18][19][20] Follow up conferences went under the name Project Voice and featured keynote speakers such as Amazon's Head of Education for Alexa, Paul Cutsinger.[21] At the Amazon Web Services Re: Invent conference in Las Vegas, Amazon announced Alexa for Business and the ability for app developers to have paid add-ons to their skills. In May 2018, Amazon announced it would include Alexa in 35,000 new homes built by Lennar.[22]

In November 2018, Amazon opened its first Alexa-themed pop-up shop inside of Toronto's Eaton Centre, showcasing the use of home automation products with Amazon's smart speakers.[23] Amazon also sells Alexa devices at Amazon Books and Whole Foods Market locations, in addition to mall-based pop-ups throughout the United States. In December 2018, Alexa was built into the Anki Vector and was the first major update for the Anki Vector, although Vector was released in August 2018, it is the only home robot with advanced technology. As of 2018, interaction and communication with Alexa were available only in English, German, French,[24] Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Hindi.[25] In Canada, Alexa is available in English and French (with the latter having a Quebec accent).[26][27]

In October 2019, Amazon announced the expansion of Alexa to Brazil, in Portuguese, together with Bose, Intelbras, and LG.[28] In November 2019, Amazon introduced Echo Studio, a Dolby Atmos-compatible surround sound Alexa speaker.[29] Hoped-for revenue never materialized from people using voice ordering for Amazon products or services from partners such as Domino's Pizza and Uber. Alexa does not play audio ads, and display ads were relatively unsuccessful. In 2019 an all-hands crisis meeting was called to address the issue, and a hiring freeze was instated. In 2022, with the division losing several billion dollars per quarter, the company started laying off Alexa employees en masse.[30] Echo Show devices began serving hidable ads for Alexa skills and other products in December 2022, followed by ads promoting shopping for specific products on Amazon (which respawn quicker) in November 2023. In February 2025, Amazon introduced Alexa+, the latest version of their voice assistant, which is powered by generative AI. Alexa+ was announced to be free for all Prime members.[31]