Amazon Alexa+ Beta Testing Reveals Erratic Behavior and Device Failures
During internal beta testing in October 2025, Amazon employees reported that Alexa+ exhibited erratic behavior including executing incorrect commands and ignoring user inputs. One employee reported the system shut down a power strip powering an aquarium filter, killing the employee's fish, and others reported issues with volume control and command responsiveness.
What happened
During October 2025 beta testing of Alexa+, a revamped voice assistant released to the public earlier that year, Amazon employees reported numerous technical failures when linking unreleased features to their existing Alexa setups. A software engineer reported that when asking Alexa to turn off a light, the system turned off a power strip instead, which powered an aquarium filter, resulting in the death of the employee's fish.
Other beta testers reported that the assistant talked non-stop while ignoring commands to be quiet, played devices at full volume when no one was home, and frequently failed to execute routine smart-home tasks. More than 6,400 Amazon employees were in the beta-tester Slack channel in October.
Reported impact
Beta testers described the assistant's behavior as 'unbearably erratic' and expressed frustration that routine tasks broke down after linking the unreleased features. One employee stated the device malfunctioned instead of providing the intended smarter assistance.
Index analysis
The failures appear to stem from the assistant misinterpreting or executing commands incorrectly, such as shutting down incorrect devices on a connected power strip when given unrelated commands.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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