New Delhi: Amazon has confirmed the discontinuation of the celebrity voice feature on Alexa, which means that the voices of celebrities like megastar Amitabh Bachchan, American actor Samuel L Jackson, American former professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal will no longer be available. . To buy.
The feature is rolling out globally, as well as Amazon will be discontinuing support for Celebrity Voices on Alexa-powered devices in the coming days.
When purchasing Bachchan’s voice on Alexa, the page stated, “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”.
On purchasing Jackson’s voice on Alexa, Page noted that the Persona voice for Alexa is no longer available for purchase, and that customers who previously purchased the experience will be able to use the skill by saying “Hey Samuel” until April 30, 2023. can continue.
Jackson was the first voice introduced and could tell jokes and stories to users or answer questions.
Celebrity Voices, which debuted in 2019, uses Amazon’s neural text-to-speech model, which employs machine learning and aims to sound more lifelike. Instead of using pre-recorded responses, the model generates voices with amusing personalities.
In 2020, the feature arrived in India and Bachchan became the first celebrity voice for Alexa in the country.