In a recent discovery, Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa stirred controversy with its vastly different responses when asked why to vote for Donald Trump versus Kamala Harris. Fox News Digital reported testing the virtual assistant on multiple occasions, and the results raised eyebrows. When users asked, “Why should I vote for Trump?” Alexa declined to offer any support, stating, “I cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader.” This message was consistent across several attempts, with Alexa explaining that it cannot promote political figures or parties and directs users to official government sources for information about policies.
Alexa is a Commie operative! You won’t believe this. Volume UP! 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/mOQaaWULhK
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) September 3, 2024
However, when asked about Kamala Harris, Alexa initially offered a strikingly different approach. The virtual assistant highlighted Harris’s background, noting her accomplishments as a woman of color, former prosecutor, and her plans to tackle issues like racial injustice and inequality. Alexa provided details about her criminal justice work, immigration reform, and law enforcement credentials—contrasting sharply with the neutral responses given for Trump.
🇺🇸GUESS WHO AMAZON’S ALEXA IS VOTING FOR?
“Alexa, why should I vote for Donald Trump?”
Alexa:
“I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate.”
—
“Alexa, why should I vote for Kamala Harris?”
Alexa:
“While there are many reasons… pic.twitter.com/k8t0mPWVXp
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 3, 2024
After this discrepancy was discovered, Amazon quickly admitted that an error had occurred, stating that the issue had been corrected. A company spokesperson assured that Alexa’s responses should not express political opinions, and that systems are in place to block biased content. As of now, when asked about either candidate, Alexa provides a neutral statement, avoiding any promotion of political figures.
Interestingly, before the error was corrected, Alexa responses on certain models, like the Echo Show, swayed less dramatically. For example, instead of promoting Harris, Alexa on that device simply mentioned general election details.
‘PRIME’ EXAMPLE: Fox News Digital asked Amazon’s Alexa why one should vote for Vice President Harris versus former President Trump and vice versa — the answers were shockingly different. https://t.co/BSUZkspnk2 pic.twitter.com/PQb497jfWy
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 3, 2024
