tech

Rani Molla5/22/24

Better idea: Charge nothing and make Alexa as good as it used to be

Amazon is going to charge a monthly subscription for an generative AI-enabled Alexa assistant according to CNBC, which cited two unnamed sources. The assistant supposedly will be able to have “two-way conversations,” translate in real time, and will come out later this year.

This is happening as OpenAI, Meta, and other tech companies roll out their own genAI voice assistants.

Many, including myself, have noticed that Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa have seemingly gotten worse in recent years, and generative AI will likely help. But how do you justify making people pay — on top of their Amazon Prime subscription — for something they used to get for free?

Amazon plans to give Alexa an AI overhaul — and a monthly subscription price

Amazon plans to give Alexa an AI overhaul — and a monthly subscription price

This is happening as OpenAI, Meta, and other tech companies roll out their own genAI voice assistants.

Many, including myself, have noticed that Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa have seemingly gotten worse in recent years, and generative AI will likely help. But how do you justify making people pay — on top of their Amazon Prime subscription — for something they used to get for free?

More Tech

Produce At Whole Foods Market's Flagship Store

Amazon says it’s doubling down on opening Whole Foods stores. That sounds familiar.

The company says it’ll open 100 Whole Foods locations in the next few years. That sounds similar to plans Whole Foods’ CEO laid out for opening 30 stores a year in 2024. Since then, it appears to have added 14, total.

Incredulous Man

One year after the DeepSeek freak, the AI industry has adjusted and roared back

A look back at how the Chinese startup shattered conventions, changed the way Big Tech thought about AI, and blew a $1 trillion hole in the stock market that got filled right back up... and then soared to new levels.

tech

Georgia lawmakers introduce data center construction moratorium amid statewide pushback

More and more communities across the US are wrestling with the pros and cons of having a data center come to town. Georgia has become a hotspot of resistance to the data centers planned by Big Tech, according to a new report from The Guardian. The Atlanta metro area led the nation in data center construction in 2024.

Georgia state representatives introduced legislation that would place a one-year moratorium on data center construction in the state. Ten Georgia municipalities have already passed local bans on data centers.

Per the report, at least three other states have seen similar data center moratorium legislation introduced in the last week, including Maryland and Oklahoma.

Georgia leads push to ban datacenters used to power America’s AI boom

Georgia leads push to ban datacenters used to power America’s AI boom

Georgia state representatives introduced legislation that would place a one-year moratorium on data center construction in the state. Ten Georgia municipalities have already passed local bans on data centers.

Per the report, at least three other states have seen similar data center moratorium legislation introduced in the last week, including Maryland and Oklahoma.

Tesla’s Robotaxi is way cheaper than Uber, Lyft, or Waymo — but you’ll have to wait a lot longer for one

New data from ride-share comparison app Obi shows how much cheaper and less available Tesla’s autonomous ride-share service is.

Self Driving Taxi Company Waymo Voluntarily Issues Software Recall Over Cars Not Stopping For School Buses

tech

Corning soars after striking deal to sell up to $6 billion in optical infrastructure to Meta

Glass company Corning is soaring in early trading after announcing a $6 billion deal with Meta to provide its data centers with fiber-optic cable products. Thanks to a string of big tech deals — including partnerships with Broadcom and Apple — Corning’s stock is up about 100% over the past year.

A 175-year-old glass manufacturer, Corning is known for its Gorilla Glass, used in smartphone and laptop screens. It was known in the past for its iconic blue cornflower CorningWare ceramics, a consumer cookware business it spun off in the 1990s.

In an interview, Corning CEO Wendell Weeks told CNBC that he thinks “next year the hyperscalers will be our biggest customers,” amid demand from tech giants including Google and Microsoft.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.

©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC