Amazon's Alexa+ Arrives in Italy, Powered by Generative AI with Local Nuances

Amazon has officially launched Alexa+ in Italy, marking a significant expansion of its next-generation, generative AI-powered assistant. Built specifically for the Italian market by scientists and engineers at Amazon's R&D center in Turin, Alexa+ moves beyond simple command responses to enable natural, continuous conversation. It understands implicit requests, regional dialects from north to south, and deep cultural nuances—like never suggesting a cappuccino after lunch. The service launches on April 15 through a free Early Access program, after which it will be included for Prime members or cost €22.99 per month for others. This launch follows Alexa's established presence, having processed over 40 billion interactions in Italy over the past three years.

Technically, Alexa+ represents a major architectural shift, built on advanced LLMs via Amazon Bedrock and designed with new agentic capabilities. It can orchestrate hundreds of services and devices to take real-world actions, such as building shopping lists based on dietary preferences, adjusting smart home devices, and—coming soon—booking restaurants through a partnership with TheFork using just voice commands. A key feature is its persistent memory; it learns user preferences, relationships, and habits to personalize interactions over time. Unlike its predecessor, conversations flow naturally without needing specific commands or repeated wake words, allowing for interruptions and incomplete thoughts while maintaining context.