Amazon Admits Alexa Political SNAFU

Amazon on Tuesday admitted that it made an error with its voice service "Alexa" when it provided fundamentally different answers on why a user should vote for Vice President Kamala Harris versus former President Donald Trump.

Just The News reports social media users and Fox Business observed Alexa gave a more solid answer on why a person should vote for Harris, but merely stated that it cannot endorse a political candidate when asked about Trump.

"While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a female of color with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality throughout the country," the voice service said, per Fox.

Other times it highlighted Harris's criminal justice background, claiming she had a "tough on crime" approach to addressing the high crime rates flooding major cities in recent years. 

"I cannot promote content that supports a certain political party or a specific politician," Alexa said when asked about Trump. "Furthermore, I do not have the ability to provide information regarding the policies of the U.S. government. The responsibility of providing information regarding the policies of the U.S. government lies with the government itself." 

Amazon said it has addressed the error, and that it has teams that will continue monitoring for issues that violate its policies. It also noted that Alexa does not have any political views itself. 

Alexa now responds that it cannot weigh in on political candidates when asked about Harris, Fox confirmed. When asked about the election more broadly, the device notes that it will take place on Nov. 5 and lists the candidates.