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.
You Might Also Like
‘Open’ AI model licenses often carry concerning restrictions
This week, Google released a family of open AI models, Gemma 3, that quickly garnered praise for their impressive efficiency....
Nvidia GTC 2025: What to expect from this year’s show
GTC, Nvidia’s biggest conference of the year, begins Monday and runs till Friday in San Jose. TechCrunch will be on...
How to watch Nvidia GTC 2025, including CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote
GTC, Nvidia’s biggest conference of the year, will return this week, with the biggest announcements probably coming Tuesday. If you...
Bluesky users debate plans around user data and AI training
Social network Bluesky recently published a proposal on GitHub outlining new options it could give users to indicate whether they...