Amazon Reportedly Developing Advanced Alexa with Complex Request Handling
Quick Look
- Amazon is reportedly working on Project Moonraker, an updated Alexa capable of handling multiple simultaneous requests, aiming to compete with AI models from Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI.
- The project faces significant projected GPU costs and internal debate over AI spending.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Amazon is reportedly developing an advanced version of Alexa, codenamed Project Moonraker, to handle more complex and simultaneous user requests, aiming to compete with rival AI assistants.
Amazon is reportedly working on an updated version of Alexa that would expand on the capabilities of its existing Alexa+ assistant.
Business Insider claims to have seen internal planning documents that detail a project codenamed Moonraker, which is designed to handle more complex interactions that contain multiple simultaneous requests.
The main focus of Moonraker seems to be building out Alexa's agentic abilities. In the documents seen by Business Insider, listed examples include asking the assistant to book a ride and text a friend in a single interaction. It's a move that would enable Alexa to better compete with agentic AI models from the likes of Google, Anthropic and OpenAI.
The other key takeaway from Amazon's plans is the cost of such an endeavor. They projected GPU costs of more than $100 million in 2026, and the document also suggested either delaying or scaling back Moonraker's ambitions. Business Insider was told by someone familiar with the matter that some senior people within Amazon think the company has spent too much on the AI models that power the current iteration of Alexa.
The publication also claims to have seen a separate document from late 2025 that detail Amazon's plans to use "hundreds" of NVIDIA GPUs to power the Moonraker project, as well as an Anthropic Sonnet model for testing advanced reasoning and visual responses.
Alexa+ only officially launched nationwide in the US at the beginning of 2026, and in countries like the UK it remains in Early Access. The rollout hasn't been entirely smooth, with a number of users reporting issues with the assistant handling basic requests that they had not encountered with previous versions. In her own early impressions review last year, Engadget's Cherlynn Low was impressed with Alexa+'s improved conversational abilities, but noted that it would often struggle with remembering previous conversations and requests when using apps like Uber.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Amazon may scale back Moonraker's ambitions due to cost concerns.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- Will Amazon proceed with Moonraker's full ambitions?
- What is the exact timeline for Moonraker's development?
- How will Alexa's new capabilities perform in real-world testing?
