Alexa takes a swing at NotebookLM and Gemini with AI podcasts on demand

The idea of AI-generated content in any medium might immediately make some people bristle, but some use cases are better than others. For instance, I’d argue that NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews (now also available in Gemini) are a genuinely good way not only to summarise your notes, but also to do so in a way that is easily digestible on your commute or while you go about your day-to-day chores. Amazon appears to have picked up on this niche, with the retailer today releasing a new feature called Alexa Podcasts.

Amazon announced the new Alexa Plus feature in a news post today, explaining that it can generate podcast-style episodes on almost any topic in just a few minutes. Unlike NotebookLM, which generally turns your own source material into an audio discussion, Alexa Podcasts starts with little more than your chosen topic and then pulls the information together for you.

That makes it convenient, but it also asks you to put more faith in Amazon’s AI and its source selection. The company says Alexa Plus draws from more than 200 news publications and other sources, including the Associated Press, Reuters, the Washington Post, TIME, and more. The resulting episodes use AI-generated host voices.

If you’re open to the idea, you’ll at least know you’re not going to get a few minutes in before realizing Amexa may have misunderstood what you wanted. You ask Alexa for the topic you want covered, and it gives you an overview of what it plans to include before generating anything. You can then adjust the episode’s length and direction before Alexa creates the recording. Once it’s ready, you’ll get a notification on your Echo Show device or in the Alexa app, and you can listen from there or find it later in the Music and More section.

The practicality should be becoming apparent. You could ask for an episode on Rome’s history before a trip, a guide to a new hobby, or a roundup of the latest music releases. Maybe you’re not usually a soccer fan, but you’re getting caught up in the buzz about the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Many of the most popular soccer podcasts might assume more knowledge than you already have. Generating your own — tailored to your knowledge base and the time you have to listen — seems a handy solution.

Alexa Podcasts is available now to Alexa Plus customers in the US. Amazon says it’s also looking at other types of custom audio, including personalized news briefings and content based on documents or information you choose to share. It’s still AI-generated content, but at least it’s not masquerading as anything more than that.