Alexa is about to get a lot snappier

Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa could be getting an upgrade in the near future. Amazon is joining the ranks of Google and Apple in creating its own custom processing chips for AI, according to a report (paywall) from The Information. This potential chip would give Alexa devices, like the Amazon Echo, the ability to transcribe and respond to voice commands faster. On today's devices, all that work is sent up to Amazon's data centers. The new speciality chip could also be useful for Amazon's cloud business, speeding up AI processes that it sells to business customers.