Get ready to bid farewell to Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic voice on Alexa devices as Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN is getting rid of celebrity voices.
What Happened: In a surprising turn of events, Amazon has decided to discontinue its celebrity voices feature for Alexa devices, leaving fans disappointed as voices of famous celebrities like Jackson, popularly known for his Marvel character Nick Fury, Shaquille O’ Neal and Melissa McCarthy, will no longer be available for purchase or supported.
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According to a notice on Jackson’s page, his voice is no longer available for purchase. Customers who have already purchased the experience can continue using it until April 2023 by saying, “Hey Samuel.”
Similar messages were posted on the pages for McCarthy and Shaq, with Amazon stating that it will continue supporting them until Sept. 30, 2023.
“After three years, we’re winding down celebrity voices,” Amazon spokesperson Eric Sveum told The Verge.
The spokesperson also contradicted the information on Jackson’s page, saying users will be able to hear his iconic voice until June 7 of this year.
Notably, the celebrity voices feature added a touch of personality to Alexa by allowing users to interact with their favorite celebrities. It garnered attention with its initial low price of $0.99, which later increased to $4.99, the report noted.
How To Get A Refund: According to Amazon’s spokesperson, “Customers will be able to continue using these voices for a limited time, and can contact our customer service team for a refund.”
Why It’s Important: At this point, the reason behind Amazon’s decision to discontinue the celebrity voice feature on Alexa remains unclear, but it may indicate broader challenges faced by Alexa. It was previously reported that in 2018, Amazon Echo and Alexa lost about $5 billion.
Additionally, in light of the rise of conversational AI models like ChatGPT, Amazon reportedly has plans to revamp Alexa and make it more proactive and conversational.
It is possible that Alexa’s celebrity voices do not align with this new vision or that licensing costs for these voices have become prohibitively expensive.
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