Amazon is testing Alexa+ in India with Hindi support

Amazon is inviting users in India to test a Hindi-language version of its generative AI assistant Alexa+, marking the company’s latest effort to expand the service beyond English-speaking markets [1]. The company sent emails to select customers, asking them to complete a Hindi-language form by June 22 to join the beta program [1]. “You are invited to join the Alexa+ Beta programme in India. We are creating a new Alexa experience, and your feedback will be important to refine what Alexa+ will be able to do,” the message stated [1]. Amazon confirmed the test but did not provide additional comment [1]. The email cautioned that the beta software would contain bugs and could mispronounce local nuances [1]. Alexa+ is not yet publicly available in India, and Amazon has not disclosed a launch date [1]. The company originally introduced Alexa in the country with English support in 2017 and added Hindi compatibility in 2019 [1]. More than 600 million people speak Hindi in India, and Amazon is targeting native speakers who often code-mix Hindi and English [1]. The assistant is built on a new in-house large language model called Nova, though it has occasionally used Anthropic’s Claude model, according to the technology’s development history [2]. Amazon first announced Alexa+ in 2025, but the rollout proceeded slowly; the updated experience became available to all U.S. users only in February [1]. This year, Amazon has extended Alexa+ to the U.K., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, and Germany, with support for local context [1]. Amazon offers Alexa+ to Prime customers at no additional cost, while other users can pay a monthly fee to access the assistant [1]. Amazon Prime, which bundles services including video and music streaming, had 200 million subscribers worldwide as of April 2021 [7]. Amazon’s push into Hindi voice AI comes as companies recognize that voice interaction may drive AI tool adoption in India [1]. The original Alexa platform already supports natural language processing for tasks such as music playback, smart home control, and information retrieval, and its capabilities can be extended through third-party skills [2].