Alexa can no longer speak like Amitabh Bachchan; All details

Alexa will no longer speak in the voice of 'Amit Ji', as Amazon has decided to discontinue the celebrity voice feature. The company will globally remove the feature and stop supporting Alexa-powered devices in the coming days. As a result of this decision, the voices of Amitabh Bachchan, Samuel L. Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Melissa McCarthy have already been removed from the site's purchase list.

In a statement to The Verge, Amazon confirmed removing the celebrity voice feature from the platform. Furthermore, the company also ensured a refund for your purchase. “After three years, we're winding down celebrity voices. Customers will be able to continue using these voices for a limited time and can contact our customer service team for a refund," the Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to the publication.

In 2019, Amazon introduced the celebrity voice feature globally, allowing users to set their favourite celebrity's voice as the voice of Alexa. This feature used Amazon's text-to-speech neural model, which uses machine learning to create more realistic voices. Instead of using pre-recorded responses, the model generated voices with playful personalities. The voices of various celebrities, including Samuel L. Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Melissa McCarthy, Gordon Ramsay, R2-D2, and more, were available depending on the user's region. Starting at $1, users could purchase and set Alexa's tone to their preferred celebrity voice and ask her to read the news, tell jokes, answer questions, and more.

After seeing a good global response, Amazon launched Alexa's celebrity voice feature in India in 2020. For Indians, the company introduced Amitabh Bachchan's voice as the first Indian celebrity voice for Alexa. The special voice was intended to make the user experience with Alexa more interactive and interesting.

However, just three years after launching the celebrity voice feature, Amazon announced it would be discontinued. A note on Samuel L. Jackson's page reads: "Samuel L. Jackson's Alexa voice is no longer available for purchase. Customers who previously purchased the experience can continue to use the skill until April 2023 by saying 'Hello, Samuel'.

While the page suggests that Jackson's voice will no longer be available on Alexa after June 7, a related post on the Amazon page for the voices of McCarthy and Shaq notes that the system will continue to support them until September 30 of this year. However, eventually, they will be removed entirely.

We also check if Amitabh Bachchan's voice is available for purchase on the Amazon India website. However, the website mentions, "This skill is no longer available for purchase. Customers who previously purchased this experience will continue to have access for one year from the date of purchase." Although it is still unclear why Amazon decided to remove the celebrity voice feature, it is speculated that there was limited user adoption.