Amazon Alexa Plus Generates AI Podcasts on Any Topic
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- Alexa Plus can now generate podcasts on "virtually any topic" via a new Alexa Podcasts feature announced Monday, with a pair of AI-generated hosts breaking down the chosen subject.
- Amazon lets users preview an overview of what the AI hosts plan to discuss, then steer the conversation or adjust its length before the episode starts generating.
- Alexa Podcasts draws from 200 news publications Amazon has partnered with, including Reuters, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, Vox, and Politico.
- Amazon rolled out Alexa Plus to all US users in February and has since embedded the assistant into its online marketplace.
- The Alexa Podcasts feature mirrors a capability already available in Google's NotebookLM, and Microsoft Edge recently added a similar feature in an update.
- Completed episodes are delivered as a notification on Echo Show devices and the Alexa app, and can also be accessed through the Music and More section on Echo Show.
Why it matters: Amazon's 200 publishing partners—Reuters, AP, Washington Post, Vox, Politico—gain a built-in distribution channel inside Alexa Plus, which Amazon rolled out to all US users in February. Amazon now competes head-on with Google (NotebookLM) and Microsoft Edge, both of which recently added comparable AI-podcast generation.
