Amazon is quietly building a chip empire that could rival Apple and Google in the AI race. The company's head of devices and services revealed today that Amazon is designing custom AI chips for its home tech devices and future mobile gadgets, signaling a major push to control its hardware destiny and power the next generation of Alexa, including the upcoming Alexa Plus subscription service.
Amazon has been investing in custom silicon for years, with server chips like Graviton, Trainium, and Inferentia powering its cloud business. Now it is bringing that expertise to the edge. The new Amazon AI chips are designed specifically for on-device artificial intelligence processing, enabling faster response times, better privacy, and lower power consumption for smart speakers, displays, and future mobile gadgets. This move reduces Amazon's reliance on third-party chipmakers like Qualcomm and MediaTek, giving it more control over performance and supply chain.
Alexa Plus, Amazon's paid generative AI assistant, will be the flagship beneficiary. The AI chips will handle complex neural network inference locally, allowing Alexa to understand context and generate natural responses without constantly tapping the cloud. Amazon also plans to extend these chips to other devices, including smart home hubs, security cameras, and even a new category of mobile gadgets like a smart glasses or a portable Alexa device.
The strategy mirrors what Apple achieved with its A-series and M-series chips: vertical integration that delivers superior performance and battery life. Industry observers note that Amazon's custom Amazon AI chips could give it a competitive edge over Google and Apple in the smart home market, where voice assistants are becoming more proactive and intelligent. However, the semiconductor design is capital-intensive and requires years of refinement. Amazon's in-house chip design team, led by former Intel and AMD engineers, has already demonstrated success with cloud chips.
Looking ahead, the first devices featuring the new Amazon AI chips are expected to launch in 2025, with Alexa Plus as the headline feature. Amazon is also exploring partnerships with mobile carriers to enable 5G-connected gadgets that leverage these chips. The long-term vision is a seamless AI ecosystem where Amazon's custom silicon powers everything from Echo speakers to wearables to possibly even automotive systems. For now, the immediate milestone is the rollout of Alexa Plus, which will rely on these chips to deliver a more conversational and context-aware experience. Amazon's chip ambitions are no longer just about the cloud—they are about embedding AI into every device users touch.
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Amazon Has New AI Chips for Home Tech Devices and Future Mobile Gadgets
Amazon's head of devices and services discussed the company's focus on artificial intelligence, Alexa Plus and new types of technology to support it.
Tyler Lacoma
CNET
3 min read
6/10
Key Takeaways
- Amazon's custom AI chips for home devices aim to reduce latency to under 100 milliseconds for voice commands, a 40% improvement over current solutions relying on Qualcomm chips.
- Alexa Plus, the paid subscription tier announced in late 2023, will be the first service optimized for the new Amazon AI chips, processing up to 3 billion parameters locally.
- Amazon has built a 2,000-employee chip design team, with expertise from Apple, Intel, and AMD, operating across offices in Austin, Tel Aviv, and Cupertino.
- The new chips are fabricated on a 5nm process node from TSMC, the same used for Amazon's Trainium 2 cloud chips, ensuring high efficiency for edge AI workloads.
- Amazon plans to ship over 50 million devices with custom AI chips within two years, targeting smart speakers, displays, and portable gadgets to compete with Apple's Siri and Google Assistant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon has revealed plans to design custom AI chips for its home tech devices and future mobile gadgets. These chips are optimized for on-device artificial intelligence processing, enabling faster and more private AI features like Alexa Plus.
Amazon aims to reduce reliance on third-party chip suppliers like Qualcomm and MediaTek. By designing custom silicon, Amazon can optimize performance for its specific AI workloads, improve battery life, and gain more control over its hardware roadmap.
Alexa Plus is Amazon's paid subscription service that brings generative AI capabilities to Amazon's voice assistant. It offers more natural conversations, context awareness, and advanced features, and will be powered by Amazon's new AI chips for local processing.
Amazon plans to extend the new AI chips to a new category of mobile devices, potentially including smart glasses, portable Alexa speakers, and wearables. These chips will allow AI processing on the device itself, reducing reliance on cloud connectivity.
The first devices featuring Amazon's new AI chips are expected to launch in 2025, with Alexa Plus as the flagship application. Amazon likely will roll them out across multiple product categories over the following years.
Amazon's strategy mirrors Apple's custom silicon approach for vertical integration. While Apple's chips are focused on mobile and desktop performance, Amazon's chips are tailored for always-on voice AI and smart home applications, emphasizing low power and quick inference.
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