Amazon's big 2025 Alexa announcement hit late last month, and we were there to cover the demos and new features. The new AI upgrade is aimed at making Alexa more conversational and at letting the virtual assistant tackle more-complex commands. But not everyone is jumping for joy. A new change to privacy settings, in preparation for Alexa Plus, is making waves. Starting March 28, Alexa Echo users won't be able to block their devices from sending all voice recordings to Amazon for analysis.
Just before this privacy change, more than 2,000 US adults were surveyed for CNET on how they feel about voice assistants in devices like Amazon Echo. The survey revealed that consumers already have trust issues with smart home devices, with more than 70% of respondents saying they have privacy concerns with AI integration.
It remains to be seen how Amazon's Alexa Plus will handle consumer resistance to AI and smart homes, and how Amazon's effort will compare with Apple's expected new push into the smart home world later this year. We'll be sure to report back as we learn more. Here's what our data is saying on the subject.
Key findings of CNET's home voice assistant survey
- Home voice assistant usage: Half of US adults (50%) have used a home voice assistant this year (since Jan. 1). Amazon Alexa is the most popular among US adults (27%).
- AI: Nearly 3 in 4 (73%) users of home voice assistants have privacy concerns about AI integrations, and more than half (56%) wouldn't be willing to pay an extra subscription fee for additional AI features.
- Trust: Trust around AI features slightly differs by brand among all US respondents, with Amazon (Alexa) being the most trusted (27%). Gen Zers (61%) and millennials (56%) are the most trusting of brands regarding AI in voice assistants.
- Features: Among respondents who've used a voice assistant this year, "ask a quick question" was the most common use case (64%), followed by "speakers, music and entertainment" (49%), "set timers" (42%), "set reminders" (36%), and "make calls to others" (29%).
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Overall, people aren't sure what to make of more AI. When we asked folks if they'd use a voice assistant more often with new AI features, the highest response was pretty much "meh," with 34% neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the idea. Only 34% of active users reported interest in using voice assistants more if the assistants got intelligence upgrades.
In good news for Amazon, users of voice assistants also trusted Alexa and Amazon the most when it came to AI (27%), followed by Apple and Siri (24%) and Google Assistant (23%) battling for second place. But 50% of respondents said they didn't trust home voice assistants at all, and a combined 73% were concerned with privacy risks when using AI features. Yet, this survey took place before Amazon's recent privacy setting change that removes a user's ability to stop recordings from reaching Amazon's transcription analysis.
Those are tough hurdles for Amazon to jump, especially when the company is offering Alexa Plus free only for Amazon Prime subscribers while charging others $20. Our survey showed that only 23% of adults said they'd pay a fee for more AI features in voice assistants. In comparison, 56% said they wouldn't pay anything extra. That doesn't bode well if Amazon is planning on a big jump over to Alexa Plus.
When Alexa Plus rolls out, we'll be there to see how well it works and how Amazon is differentiating Alexa's AI upgrades from what Google has shown with Gemini and what Apple plans with Siri. We suspected Amazon wanted to use this new Alexa to bring in more revenue and boost Amazon Prime subscriptions, and it looks like that's exactly what the company is aiming at. However, we're interested to see how this affects smart home integrations and if Alexa Plus really is bringing something new to the table.
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Amazon will start Alexa's March revival with the virtual assistant ahead in the numbers, but not by much. About half of US adults have used a home voice assistant since Jan. 1, and Alexa ranked at the top, with 27% reporting they activated the assistant. Apple's Siri wasn't far behind, at 21%, with Google Assistant/Gemini in third, at $18%. Note that Amazon reported at its event that its own data showed people were using Alexa 20% more in 2024 compared with 2023.
Those numbers reverse a bit when looking only at Gen Z adults. While millennials and Gen Xers prefer Alexa, Gen Zers (at 27%) have a slight preference for Apple's speedy Siri, which is also set for AI upgrades this spring. That indicates Alexa may have some catch-up work to do if it wants to appeal to a younger crowd: Will these generative AI features, aimed largely at homeowners and Amazon Prime subscribers, be of any interest to Gen Z?
When was the last time you used a voice assistant for something complex in the first place? If you're like our surveyed users, you probably stick to simple tasks: The most common activity for US adults was asking a quick question, followed by firing up music or entertainment and setting timers and reminders. Using smart home commands was farther down the list, with only 23% of people saying they'd ever controlled a smart home with a voice assistant.
That's something Amazon wants to change with its announced updates. Much like Google's Gemini reveal, Alexa Plus is focusing on more-complex use cases, encouraging Alexa users to hold longer conversations, complete more complex tasks, choose entertainment organically -- and buy their loved ones more stuff . That brings up the issue around privacy that our survey found.
Survey methodology
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,376 adults, of which 1,308 have used a home voice assistant since Jan. 1, 2025. Fieldwork was undertaken Feb. 18-20, 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18-plus).