Amazon Alexa Plus Launches AI-Generated Podcasts With Two Robot Hosts and 200 News Sources

Amazon has thrown down a major gauntlet in the podcast world. Alexa Plus, Amazon's upgraded AI assistant, can now generate podcasts on "virtually any topic." Users give Alexa Plus a topic, and it offers an overview of what its AI hosts plan to talk about, allowing listeners to steer the conversation and adjust its length before generation begins. In one example clip, two AI-generated hosts discuss the latest music releases. Users can set preferred length and conversational style, and the assistant produces an episode with two AI-generated host voices within minutes. Amazon says Alexa+ can access real-time information through agreements with outlets including the Associated Press, Reuters, The Washington Post, Time, Forbes, Business Insider, Politico, USA Today, Condé Nast, Hearst, and Vox Media, alongside more than 200 local newspapers. It's not the first AI-generated podcast system — Google's NotebookLM added similar capability last year, which prompted a lawsuit from a former NPR host who alleged Google copied his voice without permission. Alexa+ is bundled at no additional cost for Prime members; non-Prime members pay $19.99/month.