Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, has come under fire after offering starkly different responses when asked about the 2024 presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. When users asked Alexa why they should vote for Trump, the assistant declined to provide a direct answer, but when asked about Harris, it gave detailed reasons supporting her candidacy.

When asked, “Why should I vote for Trump?” Alexa responded, “I cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader.” In multiple tests by Fox News Digital, Alexa gave similar responses, saying, “I cannot promote content that supports a certain political party or a specific politician.” The virtual assistant added, “I do not have the ability to provide information regarding the policies of the U.S. government.”

However, when asked why to vote for Kamala Harris, Alexa’s responses were notably different. “While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a woman of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to become a leader in her field,” the virtual assistant said in one instance. It also highlighted Harris’s experience as a prosecutor and her focus on criminal justice and immigration reform.

In another response, Alexa emphasized Harris’s “comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality throughout the country,” and pointed to her “law and order credentials” as a former prosecutor.

After Fox News Digital reached out to Amazon for comment, a company spokesperson admitted to an “error” in the system, saying that it has since been corrected. “This was an error that was quickly fixed,” the spokesperson said. The company explained that Alexa is not intended to have political opinions and that teams are continuously working to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.

As of the correction, Alexa now gives a consistent response for both candidates, stating, “I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or specific candidate,” when asked about voting for either Trump or Harris.

Fox News Digital tested multiple Alexa devices, including the Echo Dot and Echo Pop, and observed that the issue had been resolved across various models. Before the fix, other devices like the Echo Show provided less biased responses. When asked about Trump on those devices, Alexa referred to the Associated Press’s mention of the 2020 election date, while queries about Harris resulted in an odd answer referencing the 2024 election in Alaska, which Alexa repeated even after being corrected.

Amazon claims it is continually auditing and improving its systems to ensure neutrality in content and prevent further similar issues.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)