Amazon Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Fire TV Devices with an AI Upgrade

Amazon Fire TV
(Image credit: Amazon)

As Amazon celebrates the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first Fire TV devices in 2014, the company has unveiled new AI-powered search capabilities for the devices. 

The new Fire TV search experience has begun to roll out to customers in the U.S. in English on select Fire TV devices running FOS6 and later. It will be available on all eligible Fire TV devices in the U.S. in the coming weeks.

Citing studies that the average streaming customer now spends more than 10 minutes searching for options each time they access their streaming services, the company noted that the Fire TV’s new AI-enhanced search combines artificial intelligence with Fire TV's extensive entertainment content and app library, enabling users to find personalized TV show and movie recommendations using natural language.

“You can ask Alexa to search for streaming content recommendations in the same way you might ask a friend with encyclopedic knowledge about TV shows and movies, using complex or nuanced language to ask for options based on topic, genre, plot, character, actor, and even by quotes,” Amazon reported in a how-to-use the new features guide.

The new Fire TV search experience is powered by an Amazon-built large language model (LLM), which enables customers to ask Alexa for personalized TV show and movie recommendations using natural language. These recommendations are contextual, personalized for users, and will include choices from their Prime Video or other streaming subscription libraries, so users know which ones are free. 

More information on the 10th anniversary is available here; more information on the new search features can be found here.  

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.