Senators Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott have asked the FTC to investigate whether Amazon's Alexa and Walmart's Sparky shopping chatbots adequately surface information about domestically made products. The request cites a Columbia University Center for Law and the Economy study finding both assistants initially struggled or declined to confirm US-origin claims, though they could answer questions about foreign-made goods and eventually provided US-made results after prompts were reworded.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-18
Amazon now offers five distinct personality styles for Alexa—Brief, Chill, Sweet, Sassy and Original—that change the tone of responses without altering Alexa's functionality. Users can switch styles by voice command or through the Alexa app's device settings menu, with the Sassy option requiring an age confirmation due to its cheekier, more colorful responses. Each Echo device must be configured separately, since the personality setting is not shared across a household's devices.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-12
Amazon has rolled out a new capability in its Alexa for Shopping assistant that lets customers ask whether an email, text, or call claiming to be from Amazon is genuine. The AI compares the message against Amazon's own records of communications sent and examines its content, formatting, and sender details before confirming authenticity, but only when it is highly confident.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-02
Amazon launched a new Alexa for Shopping feature called 'Update Me When,' which sends personalized notifications when events like a new product line, book release, or concert announcement could prompt a purchase. Users manually set up these alerts for now, choosing what brands, artists, or products they want tracked.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-01
WIRED highlighted the Dreo Air Purifier Tower Fan MC710S as a standout multiuse home appliance, priced around $330 on Amazon. The unit combines a 99.97 percent HEPA filter with a fan that can run independently, controllable via remote, the Dreo app, or voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home.
wired.com
· 2026-08-24
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