Amazon is widening access to its more conversational Alexa assistant by making Alexa Plus available on compatible Fire TV devices for free, turning the TV into another entry point for the company's AI features.
The upgrade will let viewers ask Alexa Plus for things like movie recommendations, jump to specific scenes, and get answers about what they are seeing on screen, alongside smart‑home controls such as the ability to control lighting and pull up camera feeds.
Compatible hardware includes current-generation devices such as the Fire TV Stick, the Fire TV Cube, the Amazon Ember smart TV, and TVs from partners including Hisense and Panasonic. Amazon says it will automatically upgrade all Fire TV owners to Alexa Plus.
The move removes a previous paywall: Alexa Plus had been available to Prime members or to customers who paid for an Alexa Plus subscription, and non‑Prime users had faced a $19.99 monthly fee $19.99 per month. Amazon says customers will not need to download an app or sign up for a subscription to get the feature won't need to download an app.
The rollout follows an industry shift to put generative AI into set‑top and smart TVs; Google has folded Gemini into Google TV and Roku has upgraded its voice assistant, a trend Amazon referenced as part of the wider context for the change Gemini to its Google TV platform Roku upgraded its voice assistant. Amazon also points to higher engagement with the upgraded assistant: Alexa Plus customers now have nearly twice as many conversations on Fire TV compared with the original Alexa.
Alexa Plus was introduced last year as Amazon's generative‑AI upgrade and positioned initially behind Prime or a subscription; making it standard on Fire TV lowers the friction for people to try a more conversational assistant when they are watching TV (and potentially to bring smart‑home interactions into the living room).
Amazon says it expects to add more devices and regions over time additional devices and regions may be added over time. For viewers and households that use their TV for discovery and control, the practical change is simple: the assistant you already summon from the couch will now be able to hold longer, more contextual conversations without an extra bill.