Amazon’s big 2025 Alexa announcement has hit and we were there to cover the demos and new features. The new AI upgrade is aimed to make Alexa more conversational and tackle more complex commands. But not everyone is jumping for joy. In preparation for Alexa Plus, a new privacy setting change is making waves. Starting Mar.28th, 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, over 2,000 US adults were surveyed for CNET on how they feel about voice assistants in devices like Amazon Echo. It revealed consumers already have trust issues with smart smart home devices — more than 70% saying they have privacy concerns with AI integration.
It is yet to be seen how Amazon’s Alexa Plus will handle consumer resistance to AI and smart homes and how will it compare with Apple’s expected leap into the smart home world later this year. We will 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 three in four (73%) home voice assistant users have privacy concerns about AI integrations on smart home voice assistants, and more than half (56%) would not 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 Z (61%) and millennials (56%) are the most trusting of brands regarding AI in voice assistants.
- Features: Among those who have used a voice assistant this year, “ask a quick question” is the most common functionality (64%), followed by speakers, music and entertainment (49%), set timers (42%), set reminders (36%), and make calls to others (29%).
Privacy fears remain with AI, and extra fees are a problem for users
Overall, people aren’t sure what to make of more AI. When we asked people if they’d use a voice assistant more often with new AI features, the highest response was “meh,” with 34% neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the idea. Only 34% of active users reported interest in using voice assistants more if they got intelligence upgrades.
In good news for Amazon, voice assistant users also trusted Alexa and Amazon the most when it came to AI (27%) followed by Apple Siri (24%) and Google Assistant (23%) juggling 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 the recent privacy setting change removing user ability to stop recording from reaching Amazon transcription analysis.
Those are tough hurdles for Amazon to jump, especially when the company is only offering Alexa Plus free for Amazon Prime subscribers while charging others $20. Our survey showed only 23% of adults said they’d pay a fee for more AI features in voice assistants. In comparison, 56% said they would not 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 with 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 they are aiming for. However, we’re interested to see how this affects smart home integrations and if Alexa Plus really is bringing something new to the table.
Home voice assistant users like Alexa, but competition is fierce
Amazon will start Alexa’s March revival ahead in the numbers, but not by much. Around 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 voice 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 X prefer Alexa, Gen Z (at 27%) has 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 havers, be of any interest to Gen Z?
But 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 playing music or entertainment and setting timers and reminders. Using smart home commands was farther down the list, with only 23% of people saying they had ever controlled a smart home with voice assistants.
That is something Amazon wants to change with these announced update. 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 an issue on privacy 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).
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