Amazon plays catch-up with Alexa generative AI, shows off new, refreshed hardware

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amazon is seen, November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol///File Photo/File Photo

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday unveiled a slate of new and refreshed devices and updated its Alexa voice assistant with generative artificial intelligence to attract users to the unprofitable product as competition grows from chatbots like Google's Bard.

Alexa will converse more naturally, losing its robotic tone of nearly a decade, and answer questions like the start time for football games and recipe ideas. It will also be able to compose and recite poems, Amazon showed at the company's annual product launch in Arlington, Virginia.