Amazon Working On New Smartphone With Alexa At Its Core, Report Says

Looks for illustration Amazon’s getting backmost into nan smartphone game. More than 11 years aft nan e-commerce elephantine pulled nan plug connected its grounded first effort, nan Fire Phone, nan institution is now processing a caller smartphone codenamed “Transformer,” Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.

The instrumentality is being developed by nan company’s Devices and Services division, and it would characteristic personalized features that would make it easier to usage Amazon’s suite of apps, including Amazon Shopping, Prime Video, and Prime Music, nan study said.

The smartphone would besides support Alexa, nan smart location adjunct that Amazon has been investing heavy in, adding AI chops and expanding support to activity pinch astir of nan company’s devices. AI features are said to beryllium a large attraction for nan smartphone, which is being seen internally arsenic a measurement to promote Amazon customers to usage its AI products, Reuters reported.

The smartphone is said to beryllium developed by a comparatively caller portion wrong nan Devices section called ZeroOne, which is led by J Allard, a erstwhile Microsoft executive who helped create nan Xbox.

The news comes arsenic Amazon has been going all-in connected AI, investing $50 cardinal into OpenAI recently, and projecting $200 cardinal successful superior expenditures towards its AI, chips, and robotics efforts successful 2026.

The institution spent much than a twelvemonth revamping its Alexa adjunct pinch generative AI features, yet launching it this February arsenic Alexa+. The adjunct keeps its smart location chops, and tin now do astir things that different AI chatbots tin — for illustration readying an itinerary for a trip, updating a shared calendar, uncovering and redeeming recipes to a library, making movie recommendations, helping pinch homework, exploring a topic, and more.

Amazon declined to comment.