Amazon engaged on new smartphone with Alexa at its core, report says

Seems like Amazon’s getting again into the smartphone sport. Greater than 11 years after the e-commerce large pulled the plug on its failed first effort, the Hearth Telephone, the corporate is now growing a brand new smartphone codenamed “Transformer,” Reuters reported, citing nameless sources.

The machine is being developed by the corporate’s Units and Providers division, and it might characteristic customized options that may make it simpler to make use of Amazon’s suite of apps, together with Amazon Purchasing, Prime Video, and Prime Music, the report stated.

The smartphone would additionally help Alexa, the sensible house assistant that Amazon has been investing closely in, including AI chops and increasing help to work with a lot of the firm’s gadgets. AI options are stated to be a giant focus for the smartphone, which is being seen internally as a method to encourage Amazon clients to make use of its AI merchandise, Reuters reported.

The smartphone is claimed to be developed by a comparatively new unit throughout the Units division referred to as ZeroOne, which is led by J Allard, a former Microsoft government who helped create the Xbox.

The information comes as Amazon has been going all-in on AI, investing $50 billion into OpenAI just lately, and projecting $200 billion in capital expenditures towards its AI, chips, and robotics efforts in 2026.

The corporate spent greater than a yr revamping its Alexa assistant with generative AI options, lastly launching it this February as Alexa+. The assistant retains its sensible house chops, and may now do most issues that different AI chatbots can — like planning an itinerary for a visit, updating a shared calendar, discovering and saving recipes to a library, making film suggestions, serving to with homework, exploring a subject, and extra.

Amazon declined to remark.