Amazon Alexa's biggest upgrade in a lifetime has been delayed – but it's not all bad news

Amazon has reportedly delayed the launch of its upgraded, AI-powered Alexa.

The chattier assistant was originally expected to be available to the public before the end of 2024, but it is now believed that it'll arrive in 2025 instead.

But while that might disappoint some, others may be pleased that the Alexa service continues to be completely free for now. It has been widely claimed that the new, AI Alexa will cost up to $10 (around £7.72) per month as a subscription fee when it finally launches.

That'll likely lead to many sticking with the original, free Alexa anyway – after all, it allows you to switch the lights on using just your voice, works well as the hub for a plethora of smart home products, and basically acts as an excellent hands-free kitchen timer. Things that are alleged to be its most-used functions.

And they are also said to be barriers to getting the new Alexa to work.

Bloomberg reports that the new, smarter AI-powered version is great to chat with and find out extra, more natural details when asked a question, but it's also more likely to fail to perform the everyday tasks we want it to do – such as correctly start a timer. Its sources revealed that the new Alexa "could handle infinitely more complex questions on its own" but at the cost of reliability on basic tasks. It also apparently struggles to find a succinct, direct answer to a single question.

The issues are seemingly insurmountable at present, leading to Amazon postponing its rollout. Indeed, even the beta version of the AI assistant has been pulled. According to The Verge, it is no longer possible to try out the upgraded software for yourself.

Where you could previously say "Alexa, let's chat" to interact with the more talkative version, Alexa's new response is to tell you the functionality is no longer available.

As for a new launch date, it's now far more vague: "Alexa AI teams were recently told that their target deadline had been moved into 2025," a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Still, at least you can accurately boil an egg using your Amazon Echo Show as a timer – and without a monthly fee for the privilege.