Amazon's Alexa Plus update connects to more smart home devices via MCP

Amazon has launched a preview update to its Alexa Plus assistant that significantly expands its smart home device integration. The update leverages Amazon's new AI developer toolkit, which simplifies how third-party manufacturers connect their devices to Alexa Plus, even supporting unique or unsupported capabilities. Alexa Plus can now automatically route user requests to the correct device among supported brands including Bosch, Delta, Ecovacs, iRobot, Yale Home, Whirlpool, Tapo, and Eufy. In a demonstration, a user with a compatible washing machine could say, “Alexa, my kid’s soccer jersey could use a deep clean, but the tag says cold wash only,” and Alexa Plus would navigate the washer's cycle options and choose the correct setting.

To enable broader third-party integrations, Amazon is adopting the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard that connects AI models to external systems and tools. This will allow more brands to interact with Alexa Plus, with Canva, Headspace, Priceline, Lyft, Cengage, Virgin Atlantic, and Weekend planning integrations later this year. For example, Priceline will let customers browse hotels and book trips directly through Alexa Plus. Additionally, Priceline, Atom Tickets, Cengage, Fandango, and Taskrabbit will soon support payments through Amazon Wallet. This update builds on Alexa Plus's February 2026 launch, which introduced multi-step request handling and voice-controlled routines, but was initially limited to services like Ticketmaster, OpenTable, Uber, and Yelp.