Amazon has announced the discontinuation of its celebrity voices feature for Alexa, signaling a continued tough road forward for the tech giant’s voice assistant. Customers that paid for their Alexa to use the voice of celebrities including Samuel L. Jackson, Shaw, and Melissa McCarthy can apply for a refund.
The Verge reports that Amazon has announced that it will stop supporting the popular celebrity voices feature for its voice assistant, Alexa, in a move that has surprised many. Despite many having paid for custom voices, Alexa users will soon no longer be able to interact with the voices of their favorite celebrities.
An employee carries a package at the distribution center of US online retail giant Amazon in Moenchengladbach, on December 17, 2019. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)
Amazon claims the Alexa experience was made special by the celebrity voices feature, which allowed users to interact with the voice assistant using the voices and individual accents of famous people like Samuel L. Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Melissa McCarthy. The feature was more than just a novelty; it greatly improved the user experience by personalizing and making Alexa interactions more enjoyable.
Following the launch of the feature, the cost of the celebrity voices addon rose to $4.99 from its initial low price of $0.99. Despite the price increase, Alexa users continued to use the feature frequently because they liked the novelty of asking questions, laughing at jokes, or listening to stories read by their favorite celebrities.
However, Amazon has now decided to cut off feature. “After three years, we’re winding down celebrity voices,” Amazon spokesperson Eric Sveum said in an official statement. He further added, “Customers will be able to continue using these voices for a limited time, and can contact our customer service team for a refund.”
The decision to stop supporting celebrity voices was made as Amazon’s Alexa division is currently dealing with a number of difficulties. According to a Wall Street Journal report from November of last year, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had been closely examining the company’s Alexa division because its operating losses had recently surpassed $5 million. The financial strain was further highlighted when the business announced earlier this year that 18,000 employees would be laid off. Dave Limp, the head of Amazon Hardware, revealed that 2,000 of those layoffs affected employees in his department, which is in charge of developing Alexa and Echo products.
Read more at the Verge here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan