At the conference «Alice, what's new?» Yandex presented the largest update of its voice assistant — Alice. The new functionality is based on the advanced language model YandexGPT 5 Pro and the multimodal neural network VLM, which now allows Alice not only to speak, but also to «think», recognize images, work with files and communicate freely in English. All these features are available as part of the Yandex Plus subscription with the «Pro» option.
One of the main innovations was the reasoning mode: now Alice doesn’t just give an answer, but builds a logical chain step by step, explaining how she came to the conclusion. This process is visible in real time, and if necessary, the AI uses Internet search to update information.
In addition, Alice now works with documents — you can upload a PDF, DOC or TXT file, and she will highlight the main thing, find the necessary information or answer questions about the content. Alice also copes with images — just show her a photo, and she will recognize objects, tell you what is depicted, and even suggest how to use what is in the picture.
In Live mode, Alice sees what the user shows her through the smartphone camera. This is especially useful for situations when you need to quickly get information — for example, find out what kind of plant is in front of you, or what dishes can be prepared from the products available in the refrigerator.
Alice has also mastered perfect English. Now the assistant speaks fluently, translates texts, helps with conversational practice and even trains pronunciation. Switching between languages — by voice or in chat — is smooth and natural.
Special attention is paid to children. The updated version includes educational games and tasks developed jointly with «Yandex Textbook». For kids aged 3–5 years — quests and tasks for the development of speech, logic and memory, and for older children — a fun study of the multiplication table.
Read materials on the topic:
«Yandex Alice» now recognizes two commands at a time
«Alice» received Yandex's most powerful language model
Yandex updated «Alice Pro»: new features for family interaction
