Amazon Invites Indian Users to Beta Test Hindi Alexa+ Assistant

Amazon is planning to increase the footprint of its new conversational AI assistant Alexa+ to India and is inviting users in the country to test out a Hindi-language version.

The company sent out emails to some customers, which were seen by TechCrunch, asking users to fill out a form in Hindi by June 22 to join the beta-testing program.

“You are invited to join the Alexa+ Beta programme in India. We are creating a new Alexa experience, and your feedback will be important to refine what Alexa+ will be able to do. By joining the Alexa+ Beta programme, you’ll be notified when the testing experience in Hindi (India) is available to you,” the email read.

The email added that the beta software would have bugs and might give inaccurate information or mispronounce local nuances. The company confirmed that it is testing Alexa+ in India but didn’t provide a comment.

At the moment, Alexa+ is not available in India, and it is not clear when it will launch in the country. Amazon launched Alexa in India with English support in 2017 and added Hindi compatibility in 2019. More than 600 million people speak Hindi in India, and Amazon is trying to tap the market of native speakers who might speak both Hindi and English in a code-mixed way. Companies know that voice might be a big factor in AI tool usage in India and are finding new ways to have people talk to assistants.