Alexa Has a Creepy Response When Asked If It’s Connected to the CIA

Update: Amazon has released an update to the Alexa that clears up any confusion. Watch it here

Original Story: Alexa delivers a creepy response when it’s asked if it’s connected to the CIA, as discovered by a woman in a new video.

The video shows the woman asking Amazon’s digital personal assistant a series of questions, starting with “would you lie to me?” before concluding with “Alexa, are you connected to the CIA?” However, rather than responding, the device instead appears to shut down. The woman repeats the question a few times, and each time Alexa fails to provide any form of response.

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Watch the video below:

Why did Alexa fail to respond?

When Alexa is asked a question that it doesn’t understand, it typically responds: “Sorry, I can’t find an answer to the question I heard.” However, in this instance the ring of light around the device disappears, and the device fails to provide any response whatsoever.

With WikiLeaks having recently published what has been described as the “biggest ever” leak of confidential documents from the CIA, outlining the government agency’s hacking and surveillance strategies that include breaking into phones and other electronic devices, the US public is growing increasingly wary of their privacy. This means that while Alexa’s failure to answer this question is very likely little more than a developer oversight, some are disturbed by the device’s reluctance to provide a direct response to a seemingly simple question.

The most likely explanation, as outlined by a Reddit user, is that using the word “connected” triggers a response from Alexa that causes it to search for connections linked to the CIA. However, others have claimed that replacing CIA with a different word in the same sentence still led to the device providing a response.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos does have ties to the CIA, as the Washington Times reports, with the tech entrepreneur securing a $600 million deal back in 2013 to use his “web-based business to build the CIA a private cloud for intel data.” While that has inevitably made some people feel a little more uncomfortable with Alexa’s refusal to answer the question of whether or not it’s connected to the CIA, we highly doubt that the device would be so transparent about being a digital spy in your living room.

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