A recent viral video has ignited controversy surrounding Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa. The video highlights a stark contrast in Alexa’s responses when asked to make a case for voting for Vice President Kamala Harris compared to former President Donald Trump. While Alexa readily offers arguments for Harris, it refuses to provide any reasons for supporting Trump.
This incident has further fueled the ongoing debate about big tech companies’ potential bias against conservative voices. The controversy comes alongside revelations about Amazon employees’ political donations. Federal donor records indicate a significant preference for Harris among employees at Amazon and its subsidiary, Blue Origin.
Data from OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research group, shows that Amazon donors have contributed over $1 million to Harris’ campaign during the 2024 election cycle. In contrast, Blue Origin employees donated a much smaller amount of roughly $27,000.
Overall, over 73% of contributions from Amazon-affiliated donors have gone to Democratic candidates, with nearly 27% going to Republicans. This trend mirrors patterns observed in other tech giants, with Meta employees directing 87% of their contributions to Democrats and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) employees contributing 82.23% to Democrats.
It’s important to note that these donations are from individuals associated with the companies, not the companies themselves. Organizations are legally prohibited from directly contributing to candidates or political parties.
This isn’t the first time Amazon has shown a significant lean towards Democratic candidates. During the 2020 election, Amazon employees contributed over $2.22 million to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and $934,747 to the Democratic National Committee’s PAC account.
In response to queries posed by Fox News Digital, Alexa repeatedly declined to answer questions about supporting Trump, stating that it ‘cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader.’ This refusal has sparked accusations of bias and censorship.
Amazon, however, maintains that this behavior was an ‘error’ that has been rectified. The company has faced intense scrutiny in recent years for allegations of censoring conservative content and suppressing information related to COVID-19 during the pandemic. This latest incident further highlights the ongoing debate surrounding big tech’s influence on political discourse and the potential for bias in their platforms.
