In another sign that Amazon is changing course with Alexa, the company has warned developers that it will soon stop paying them to build Alexa skills.
As spotted by Bloomberg, Amazon posted a notice on its Alexa development site noting that it would soon end its seven-year-old program that awarded Amazon Web Services credits to developers who built and published Alexa skills.
Amazon will cease issuing AWS credits for Alexa skills after June 30, the notice says.
This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart speakers.
Bloomberg also reports that Amazon will end monthly cash payments to the developers of popular Alexa skills, although Alexa developers will still be allowed to collect revenue from in-app purchases.
An Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg that less than 1 percent of Alexa developers were using the two rewards programs, which Amazon chose to “sunset” because they have “run their course.”
The programs were intended to encourage the development of Alexa skills, which Amazon has originally viewed as a major revenue driver for its then-nascent voice assistant.
But while some early developers of Alexa skills reaped thousands of dollars a month for their Alexa skills, many more found the effort wasn’t worth the meager return.
Amazon wasn’t making much money from Alexa skills either, Bloomberg reports, and thus began shrinking the size of its cash payments to Alexa developers starting in 2020.
Amazon’s move follows the unveiling last fall of a revamped version of Alexa that’s powered by Amazon’s new large language model.
The new Alexa is capable of such feats as conducting smooth, open-ended conversations, writing stories and invitations, responding to a user’s emotions, and obeying natural-language commands for controlling smart home devices.
Amazon execs have said the company is considering charging for this new “superhuman” version of Alexa, while the original Alexa would remain free.
That said, there is reportedly dissent within Amazon about the feasibility of charging extra for a so-called “Alexa Plus,” with the AI-enhanced Alexa said to be “falling short of expectations.”
