Amazon Echo users will no longer have the option to process their Alexa requests locally, which means all of their voice recordings will be sent to the company’s cloud.
Ars Technica reports that on Friday, Amazon sent an email to customers who have “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” enabled on their Echo smart speakers and displays, stating the company would stop supporting the privacy-enhancing feature on March 28.
“As we continue to expand Alexa’s capabilities with generative AI features that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud, we have decided to no longer support this feature,” the email said.
This comes as Amazon is rolling out a new version of its voice-controlled AI assistant, now known as Alexa+. Consumers and regulators have raised concerns about Alexa’s privacy implications in the past, with Amazon agreeing to pay a $25 million in 2023 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over children’s privacy.
European tech industry coalition calls for ‘radical action’ on digital sovereignty — starting with buying local
A broad coalition drawn from across the ranks of Europe’s tech industry is calling for “radical action” from European Union...
Meta takes aim at ex-employee’s memoir ‘Careless People’
Meta won a legal victory this week against Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former employee who recently published a memoir of her...
Apple reportedly considered building the iPhone 17 Air without ports
After reporting in January that Apple is adding an “Air” option to its iPhone lineup, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is offering...
People are using Google’s new AI model to remove watermarks from images
Users on social media have discovered a controversial use case for Google’s new Gemini AI model: removing watermarks from images,...
