On Thursday, Amazon's head of devices and services, Panos Panay, discussed the future of Amazon's smart devices with CNBC, which includes the company's own end-to-end silicon chips. In the interview, Panoy also revealed plans for future AI devices and its advanced Alexa Plus AI assistant.
That Amazon-only design, currently in AZ3 and AZ3 Pro chips, is in devices I've tested, like the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 (now in my kitchen), as well as the Fire TV. Panay says more devices are on the way.
The latest chips are designed to run as much AI on-device as possible, improving response times and generally making it more secure than relying on cloud processing.
"If we're going to go deliver this ambient experience in the home for people in the most secure way, we definitely need to think about how that end-to-end delivery of hardware comes together," Panay said, although he added that Amazon is still using Qualcomm chips for other purposes.
This may also give Amazon more control over device pricing. While computer chips aren't facing quite the same AI-related cost leaps as graphics processing units -- something CNET has termed RAMageddon -- prices are still rising. Keeping the manufacturing process mostly in-house could help Amazon dictate consumer prices with more discretion.
An Amazon representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amazon's chips are only the start of a new focus on AI
Alexa Plus can do a lot, but now Amazon wants it to be on the go.
Tyler Lacoma/Zooey Liao/CNETWhy the new focus on end-to-end chip design? According to Panay, it comes down to improving security and AI, especially its Alexa Plus capabilities. Alexa Plus is the latest version of Amazon's voice assistant (free with Amazon Prime, $20 for most capabilities otherwise), built with conversational AI.
I've used it to talk through recipes, to change its own settings, to create automatic conversations for my doorbell, to order GrubHub and for plenty more, but Amazon is just getting started.
"I think we might be moving away from a world of apps and screens," Panay said to CNBC, underlining Amazon's focus on the voice assistant. He said Amazon has a lab full of devices it's testing, including a "whole roadmap of on-the-go devices." That would explain Amazon's purchase of wearables brand Bee in 2025.
What those mobile Alexa Plus devices look like remains to be seen, but according to Amazon, we won't have to wait long. We've already seen devices like AI pins that can listen to your daily conversations and take notes on them, but they haven't been especially useful and have raised privacy questions about what this technology listens to.
Speaking of privacy, it's worth noting that Amazon automatically processes voice commands given to devices like the Echo Show 11 for analysis, and while you can turn other Alexa settings off, you can't adjust that one.
This new wave of AI devices is likely to come with similar requirements, so think about how much you want Amazon to know about you.
