Amazon's Alexa+ Becomes a Smarter AI Assistant
A Glimpse into Amazon’s Secret Apartment Around 1 p.m., local time, on the 5th, at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington State. After stepping off the elevator on the 30th floor of the Day One Building and passing through a door marked “Restricted Area,” a “household” space appeared. This large studio-like area was furnished with appliances such as a refrigerator and TV, as well as furniture including a sofa, arranged as if someone actually lived there. Amazon smart speakers “Echo” of various designs were installed throughout the space. Daniel Rausch, Amazon’s vice president of the Alexa and Echo division, who was standing behind the kitchen island, asked the device questions like, “I want to buy a coffee machine. Can you recommend one?” and “Take a photo of the space in front of you and share your thoughts.” This is a laboratory for developing Amazon’s voice assistant “Alexa” and the Echo devices that house it. The residential space was recreated to test the technology in an...