Amazon Alexa is a household name, so it may come as a surprise to learn that the retail giant is turning its back on the business venture. According to a new report from Business Insider, the voice assistant has become something of a money drain. Amazon's Worldwide Digital group, which is behind the product, reported losses of $3 billion (£2.4bn) in the first quarter of last year, with "the vast majority" of the losses apparently a result of Alexa.

Although the device is popular with customers, the business model means that Amazon can't monetise the product. As one internal document put it: "we want to make money when people use our devices, not when they buy our devices." The company is currently planning to cut up to 10,000 jobs, with the Alexa team – which has been on a hiring freeze since 2019 – apparently a key target.

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Thanks to the Museum of Failure for permission to use its imagery in this piece.

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