Amazon has been hard at work on a significant upgrade to Alexa, its voice assistant, which could bring the tech more in line with competitors like ChatGPT. The project, known internally as “Banyan,” will reportedly introduce two versions of Alexa: “Remarkable Alexa” and a replacement for the current version, which will be powered by AI as well. “Remarkable Alexa” is the more advanced of the two, with capabilities like performing multiple tasks from a single prompt – think drafting an email and ordering food delivery. It will also have improved conversational skills, so you won’t have to repeat “Alexa” with each command. The AI will even learn your daily routines to automate smart home tasks, like turning on your coffee maker when your alarm goes off. To control devices throughout your home, you’ll need to buy additional Alexa-enabled hardware. Wait, what? How much? Here’s the catch: Amazon plans to offer “Remarkable Alexa” as a monthly add-on to Prime memberships, potentially costing $5 to $10 extra per month. That could put your total Prime cost at $19.99 to $24.99 per month. It’s unclear if users will be willing to pay for features that are currently free, especially since there may not be a special tie-in with Amazon’s $139-per-year Prime membership. Details on the second version of Alexa are scarce, but it will apparently replace the current “Classic Alexa” and also use AI. There’s reportedly a lot of pressure within Amazon to get this Alexa revamp right. The project is seen as…Alexa is getting a major upgrade – but you might have to pay for it