Amazon
Amazon’s Alexa won’t sound like Samuel L. Jackson and Melissa McCarthy.
The e-commerce giant has stopped selling celebrity “personas” to Alexa. In a note on the product pages for the available celebrity voices, Amazon indicates that they are no longer available for purchase.
Melissa McCarthy’s Alexa voice is no longer available for purchase. Customers who previously purchased the experience may continue to use the skill through September 30, 2023, by saying “Hi Melissa,” the online note reads.
Available voices also included Lakers star, Shaquille O’Neal. Users who purchased the audio recordings for $4.99 will still have access to them through the end of September.
Amazon did not reveal why it was discontinuing this feature but in a statement Cnet He said, “After three years, we’re diluting celebrity voices. Customers will be able to keep using these voices for a limited time, and can contact our customer service team for a refund.”
Popular Characters has worked with most voice-activated Echo devices, with the exception of the first generation Echo and Echo Dot devices. Other products that aren’t supported are wearables, Fire TVs, and Fire TV devices.
Upon acquiring the skill, Alexa took a back seat and allowed the popular character to take over. If users purchased McCarthy’s voice, they could wake the device by saying “Hi, Melissa” and if they purchased Jackson’s voice, they would wake the device by saying, “Hi, Samuel.”
Watch the Alexa ad below that shows Jackson in the recording studio interacting with the virtual assistant.
