Amazon is enhancing its AI-driven digital assistant, Alexa+, by introducing new features. On Thursday, the company revealed plans to incorporate four additional integrations, enabling the assistant to connect with Angi, Expedia, Square, and Yelp beginning in 2026. These updates will let users arrange hotel stays, request estimates for household projects, book salon visits, and more. Through Expedia, customers can evaluate, reserve, and oversee hotel bookings, or share their preferences with Alexa to receive tailored suggestions—for example, by asking, "Can you find me pet-friendly hotels for this weekend in Chicago?"

These new offerings complement Alexa+'s current partnerships with Fodor, OpenTable, Suno, Ticketmaster, Thumbtack, and Uber.

Much like how ChatGPT is now incorporating apps into its chatbot, Amazon's goal is to streamline access to diverse online services via its digital assistant. Users might instruct Alexa to hail an Uber or secure a dinner reservation through OpenTable. They can also engage in fluid, natural conversations with the AI, adjusting their requests through interactive dialogue. Whether this concept will gain widespread adoption is still uncertain.

Amazon did provide a brief insight into how early users of Alexa+ have been interacting with these integrations, mentioning that home and personal service platforms such as Thumbtack and Vargaro have experienced notable engagement. The approach of using AI assistants as app platforms is being explored industry-wide as a method to broaden AI's reach among consumers. However, this shift demands that users adjust to a novel way of accessing services, moving away from familiar web or mobile app interfaces.

For AI-driven app usage to succeed in altering consumer habits, it must be perceived as equally convenient—or even more so—than current methods. Achieving this would require AI providers to offer a range of online services comparable to that of a traditional app store, which already presents a more filtered selection than the open web. Alternatively, providers must excel at recommending relevant apps at opportune moments, avoiding any impression of intrusiveness, since users often view unsolicited prompts as advertisements.