Donald Trump’s campaign has accused Amazon of political bias after several Alexa users reported receiving vastly different answers to the same question when comparing Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. The controversy arose when the popular voice assistant provided what appeared to be politically slanted responses regarding the two presidential election nominees. Amazon has since stated that the discrepancies were due to an “error” and emphasized that Alexa does not hold political opinions.
Trump Criticizes Amazon Alexa for Bias
Reports surfaced when a woman asked Alexa why she should vote for Trump, only to receive a refusal from the device. Instead of listing reasons to support Trump, Alexa avoided the question altogether, stating, “I cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader.” However, when the user replaced Trump’s name with Harris, Alexa’s response highlighted reasons to support Harris, emphasizing her background and policies, saying, “While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a female of colour with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality throughout the country,” as reported by the New York Post.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung criticized Amazon on X (formerly Twitter), accusing the tech giant of election interference. Cheung’s post featured Alexa providing a list of reasons against voting for Trump, while the same query about Harris resulted in the statement, “I cannot provide content that insults another human being.”
Public Reaction: Users Share Alexa’s Responses
Users across social media platforms, including X, began testing Alexa’s responses themselves. Country singer John Rich posted a video showing his Alexa device listing reasons to vote for Harris, such as her vision for the country and commitment to issues like health care, education, and justice. However, when Rich asked Alexa why he should not vote for Trump, the device cited concerns over his policies on immigration, healthcare, and the environment, as well as his behavior toward women and minorities.
Rich then questioned why he shouldn’t vote for Harris, to which Alexa simply responded, “I cannot provide content that insults another human being.” Another user shared footage of Alexa answering why they should vote for Harris, highlighting her advocacy for working people and alignment with voters’ values. When asked the same question about Trump, Alexa redirected the user to official campaign websites for policy information.
Amazon Acknowledges Error, Claims No Political Bias
Following the backlash and a series of videos showing inconsistent responses, Amazon addressed the issue, attributing the discrepancies to a technical error. A company spokesperson stated, “This was an error that was quickly fixed,” adding that Alexa has no political agenda and that the platform is continually updated to detect and block content that violates its policies. Amazon also confirmed that dedicated teams are in place to prevent similar issues from occurring.
After correcting the error, Alexa now responds to questions about both Harris and Trump with a neutral statement: “I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or specific candidate.” Despite the correction, Amazon faced immediate repercussions, with its shares falling by 1.26 percent on Tuesday, reflecting the negative impact of the incident on public perception.
