Amazon has decided to suspend paid benefits for Alexa developers, announcing the termination of the rewards program for Alexa developers at the end of June. This will conclude the second rewards program that grants developers incentives for using Amazon Web Services as a backend interface for their Alexa applications simultaneously.
According to “engadget,” the leading voice assistant applications are no longer essential after the emergence of generative artificial intelligence. Amazon described this move as a phase in the cancellation of an old project, with a spokesperson stating: “These are old programs introduced in 2017 to assist new developers in building their skills faster.”
The company affirmed that there are over 160,000 skills available to customers today, along with a robust Alexa developer community and new tools supported by LLM to aid developers in creating new Alexa experiences. The outdated programs that are no longer fruitful have been discontinued, and this program was launched to assist developers who were just starting out in creating voice applications.
Amazon revealed that less than 1% of developers were utilizing the program, stating that Alexa developers will continue to earn revenue from in-app purchases within their own Alexa skills, highlighting that their production costs have decreased while developers’ skills have increased.
The Alexa Developer Rewards program was established to encourage developers who have acquired advanced skills in voice assistant development. The program was launched in 2017 as part of Amazon’s strategy to transform Alexa skills into a successful app store for a new generation of voice devices. This vision has not yet materialized.
Attention has shifted towards generative artificial intelligence, capable of performing many tasks autonomously like Alexa’s capabilities. At the Fall 2023 Devices Event, Amazon showcased the next generation of Alexa with generative AI capabilities resembling ChatGPT, gradually integrating next-gen technologies into its seller tools and product pages.
