Amazon is launching an update to its Alexa Plus assistant that will allow it to connect to smart home devices in new ways. With the update, which is currently in preview, Alexa Plus can link up with tech from Bosch, Delta, Ecovacs, iRobot, Yale Home, Whirlpool, Tapo, Eufy, and others, while automatically routing requests to the correct device.
In an example shared by Amazon, a person with a supported washing machine can say, “Alexa, my kid’s soccer jersey could use a deep clean, but the tag says cold wash only.” From there, Alexa Plus would navigate the washer’s cycle options and choose the correct setting. The new integrations are powered by Amazon’s new AI developer toolkit, which is supposed to make it easier for device makers to connect to Alexa Plus, “including those with unique capabilities that weren’t supported before.”
Amazon widely launched its revamped AI assistant in February, which can handle multi-step requests and help you create routines using your voice. It currently only performs tasks in a limited number of third-party services, such as Ticketmaster, OpenTable, Uber, Thumbtack, Expedia, Yelp, Square, and Angi.
But Amazon is trying to change this by adopting the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard that allows AI models to connect to external systems and tools.
