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In today’s big story, Amazon is finally throwing its hat into the AI-assistant ring.
What’s on deck:
But first, better late than never.
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Amazon is working on an AI-powered assistant to compete with the incumbent in the space.
Before you get any further, you haven’t traveled back in time. It’s not 2014, and I’m not referring to Amazon’s Alexa competing with Siri.
This time, Amazon has its eyes on OpenAI’s ChatGPT with a project codenamed “Metis.” Business Insider’s Eugene Kim has all the details on the new AI assistant based on an internal document he obtained and conversations with people familiar with the project.
The plan is for Metis to offer tech- and image-based answers conversationally and share links to how it sources answers.
In short, it sounds a lot like the AI chatbots you’re already familiar with. And that’s part of the potential problem.
Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have all had their AI assistants available for a while. And they’re already making big moves.
AI agents (tools that can automate and perform complex tasks based on existing data) were a heavy focus of Google’s annual developer conference. Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant tool is a part of the tech giant’s strategy to start seeing a return on its AI bets. And ChatGPT was tapped by Apple as a key piece of Apple Intelligence, its version of AI.
Meanwhile, Amazon is showing up noticeably late to the AI-assistant party.
Metis isn’t scheduled to launch until September, according to Eugene’s reporting, leaving time for its rivals to continue honing their chatbots.
(Apple Intelligence is also launching in the fall, but it’s not starting from scratch, thanks to OpenAI. It also has a built-in potential user base of iPhone users.)
Playing from behind has been the name of the game for Amazon with generative AI. The company that’s spent the past decade-plus sitting on top was left noticeably behind with the launch of ChatGPT back in 2022.
As disappointing as it might be for Amazon to trail its peers, there are some benefits to not being first. Amazon can see what’s worked and what’s gone horribly wrong for others.
One potential differentiator for Metis is its plans to offer more up-to-date responses, like the latest stock prices.
But will that be enough to get people to switch allegiances from their favored chatbot? Only time will tell, and that might not be something Amazon can afford.
The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Annie Smith, associate producer, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.
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