Siri is basically perfect* and always has been, but theres one voice assistant feature Amazons Alexa+ has that Apple has always needed long before the age of modern generative AI.Alexa+, like Siri but with generative AIAmazon officially announced the long awaited generative AI version of its Alexa voice assistant today. Alexa+, as its called, is a voice-first AI chatbot that will work across products with Alexa integration.Youd be forgiven if you thought that Amazon might have discontinued work on Alexa. Thats because its AI-infused version of Alexa took more than a year longer to complete.Now Amazon is promising free early access to customers who own or purchase an Echo Show 21, 15, 10, or 8. Alexa+ also works with Fire TV and Fire tablets.What Amazon showed off today is impressive from a modern generative AI perspective. Read more about Alexa+ in our AI-focused Neural column from today.A single voice assistant experience everywhereThe news includes the announcement that a new app for Alexa+ is coming to iPhone and Android, and Alexa.com will be updated and serve as the home on the web for Alexa+. Amazon also emphasizes that Alexa+ will be available pretty much everywhere. But its the benefit of having the same Alexa+ experience from device to device that Siri and Apple devices lack.You can start a conversation with Alexa+ on your Echo device, continue on the go with your phone or in the car, and pick it up on your computerAlexa+ remembers the context, and can continue the conversation across any of your endpoints.Not only is Siri on your Apple Watch unaware of what youve discussed with Siri on your HomePod or Siri on your Apple TV, but the improved version of Siri doesnt even run on any of those devices.Apple Intelligence is limited to newer iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Vision Pro. That means the Siri experience is as good as it will ever get on products without Apple Intelligence. Siris performance on devices with Apple Intelligence is another story.But something that has simply made Siri less personal and useful for years has been how disconnected the experience is between devices.Theres no concept of picking up a Siri discussion on one device from another. Greater contextual awareness is an Apple Intelligence feature for Siri, but its limited to context between recent chats on the same device.Thats a shame because Siri is arguably available in more places than Alexa between the iPhone and Apple Watch.The Siri disadvantage For Apple, Siri has always existed as a feature on a product, not a feature in the cloud thats accessible from any product. Alexa+ is taking a different approach. There are many products, but only one Alexa+.So Amazon will offer the same Alexa+ from device to device with contextual awareness while Siri remains siloed to individual devices with different feature sets and no concept of memory.That disadvantage for Siri adds to the fact that Siri doesnt yet have the support of its own large language model to support world knowledge. It instead allows you to send a request out to a watered-down version ChatGPT.Apple is reportedly working on its own first-party chatbot that could bring Siri up to speed, but first Apple has to finish developing the features that it has already announced and hasnt released.Best Apple accessoriesFollow Zac Hall on X, and listen to Runtime with co-host Sophia Tung on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel