Exclusive-Amazon mulls $5 to $10 monthly price tag for unprofitable Alexa service, AI revamp

FILE PHOTO: Prompts on how to use Amazon's Alexa personal assistant are seen alongside an Amazon Echo in an Amazon ?experience center? in Vallejo, California, U.S., May 8, 2018. Picture taken on May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon is planning a major revamp of its decade-old money-losing Alexa service to include a conversational generative AI with two tiers of service and has considered a monthly fee of around $5 to access the superior version, according to people with direct knowledge of the company's plans.

Known internally as “Banyan,” a reference to the sprawling ficus trees, the project would represent the first major overhaul of the voice assistant since it was introduced in 2014 along with the Echo line of speakers. Amazon has dubbed the new voice assistant "Remarkable Alexa," the people said.