Amazon CEO Andy Jassy looks to conversational ads in Alexa+ to fuel AI growth

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sees a growing opportunity to introduce ads into user interactions with Alexa+, the company’s AI-powered voice assistant, he mentioned during Amazon’s Q2 earnings call.

“People are excited about the devices that they can buy from us that has Alexa+ enabled in it. People do a lot of shopping with Alexa+; it’s a delightful shopping experience that will keep getting better,” Jassy told investors and analysts. “I think over time, there will be opportunities, as people are engaging in more multi-turn conversations, to have advertising play a role to help people find discovery, and also as a lever to drive revenue.”

Amazon has already rolled out Alexa+ to millions of users, upgrading its legacy voice assistant with generative AI capabilities to enable more natural and task-oriented conversations. Alexa+ is Amazon’s response to AI-powered assistants from OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity, which have made traditional voice assistants seem outdated. Still, the monetisation of generative AI remains a work in progress.

Currently, Alexa+ is free for Prime members, while a standalone subscription costs $20 per month. Jassy also hinted at the possibility of future subscription tiers — potentially including an ad-free option.

Until now, advertising on Alexa has been minimal. Users might occasionally encounter a visual ad on the Echo Show or hear a pre-recorded audio ad between songs on Alexa-enabled smart speakers.

However, Andy Jassy’s vision of Alexa+ delivering AI-generated ads during ongoing conversations marks a new and largely unexplored frontier — both for Amazon and the broader tech landscape. 

Jassy is betting that users will engage with Alexa+ more frequently than they did with the original Alexa, potentially boosting both advertising opportunities and shopping activity on Amazon.com. But early feedback on Alexa+ has been mixed. Reports suggest Amazon has faced challenges in delivering some of the assistant’s more advanced features, and the rollout has progressed slower than anticipated.

Before Amazon can fully integrate ads into Alexa+, several hurdles remain. Like other generative AI models, Alexa+ is prone to hallucinations — inaccuracies or false responses — which could complicate its role in promoting products. For advertisers to trust Alexa+ as a brand ambassador, Amazon will need to ensure it doesn't deliver misleading or inaccurate endorsements.

Still, Jassy appears optimistic about the long-term potential of advertising. Amazon’s ad business grew 22% year-over-year in the second quarter, signaling strong momentum.