Amazon's Next Alexa Project 'Moonraker' Aims for Smarter, Multi-Step Commands

Amazon is quietly developing a more powerful version of its Alexa assistant, codenamed Moonraker, according to internal documents obtained by Business Insider. The project is designed to handle complex, multi-step requests in a single interaction - like booking a ride and texting a friend at the same time. This marks a significant leap beyond the current Alexa+ assistant, which launched nationwide in the U.S. earlier this year and is still in early access in markets like the UK.

The Moonraker initiative focuses on building out Alexa's "agentic" abilities, letting the assistant act more like a capable personal aide rather than a simple voice command tool. The documents suggest Amazon is testing the system using hundreds of NVIDIA GPUs and an Anthropic Sonnet model to improve reasoning and visual responses. However, the project comes with a steep price tag: projected GPU costs exceed $100 million in 2026, and some senior Amazon executives reportedly believe the company has already overspent on AI models powering the current Alexa. The documents even mention the possibility of delaying or scaling back Moonraker's ambitions.

Despite these cost concerns, Amazon continues to expand Alexa+ features. In February, the company introduced three new personality styles for the assistant, including a "sassy" option that gives Alexa a foul-mouthed edge. It also added natural language food delivery orders through apps like GrubHub and Uber Eats. Early reviews of Alexa+ praised its improved conversational flow but noted struggles with remembering past conversations and handling basic requests. Still, with Moonraker in the pipeline, Amazon appears determined to push Alexa into a new era of intelligent, multi-tasking assistance.

Source: Engadget