BMW gets new Amazon Alexa+ voice assistant with AI upgrade

Within its own product ecosystem, Amazon is gradually introducing its next-generation Alexa assistant, featuring Alexa+ in BMW recently. The company announced the upgraded version of Alexa Custom Assistant.

This platform enables companies to assemble their own AI assistants that leverage Alexa tech, which will be powered by Amazon Alexa+ going forward.

Drivers will experience more natural and conversational in-vehicle interactions thanks to the underlying Alexa+ architecture. This system leverages over 70 large language models (LLMs) to provide the assistant with more comprehensive agentic capabilities, allowing it to handle more complex instructions than before. A key benefit Amazon has highlighted is the ability to seamlessly continue conversations started on a home device within the vehicle.

BMW was already using Alexa Custom Assistant as the foundation of its in-vehicle voice assistant tech, which it calls the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant (IPA), and it’ll be the first car manufacturer to get access to Alexa+. At CES 2024, the two companies also debuted a new feature that effectively allows Alexa to absorb the driver’s manual, enabling it to answer any question about your car in real-time.

BMW has fully integrated its products into Amazon’s ecosystem, with its connected features also powered by the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform. The new Alexa Custom Assistant will soon be available on select BMW models; however, we currently do not have any specific details regarding the exact date or which vehicles will be equipped with it.