Is the new AI-powered Alexa almost here? 6 things to know

It's been well more than a year since Amazon gave us a glimpse of a revamped Alexa, complete with an AI overhaul under the hood. Now there are signs that the AI-powered Alexa is almost ready for prime time. Journalists (including me) awoke this morning to invitations from Amazon for a "Devices and Services" event hosted by Panos Panay, the ex-Microsoft exec who's now in charge of Amazon's Amazon and Echo divisions. Amazon raised eyebrows last September when it skipped its traditional fall hardware event, so this latest invite quite naturally set the Alexa rumor mill abuzz. So, what do we know about this upcoming Amazon event, and what should we expect in terms of the next Alexa?