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Users around the world have noticed that Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa seems to be experiencing technical difficulties.
According to Downdetector, Amazon and Alexa started experiencing a spike in issues at around 11am on Friday in the UAE. Users around the globe – including the UAE, UK and Europe – have reported a number of problems with the service.
Patchy coverage, devices showing as offline, slow responses and answers such as, “Sorry, I am having trouble. Please try in a little while,” have been widespread.
The malfunction has led to memes and posts on social media, with users claiming they cannot turn off their alarm clocks, switch on their lights or ask the device to tell them the temperature outside.
@AmazonUK #Alexa is off line! Son will be late for school, I can’t stop the alarm, I can’t hear the door bell ring and the lights won’t turn in! I’m staying in bed 😀
— Antony Moore (@amooreict) January 21, 2022
'Sorry, something went wrong'
— Brett Jackson (@brettsjackson) January 21, 2022
Is anyone else having issues with their #Alexa?#alexadown
I had to look out the window to check the weather! The indignity of it all! pic.twitter.com/W6ARk5694a
Hey Siri, what's up with Alexa? #AlexaDown #Alexa pic.twitter.com/3bsiVNtonS
— ElyzabethSB (@ElyzabethSB) January 21, 2022
#alexa #alexadown The machines have taken over. Skynet has started 😩 pic.twitter.com/Vy8jtXluEj
— Sonya Blythe (@SonniesG) January 21, 2022
This is not the first time there has been an Alexa outage. The situation last occurred in December, although it was limited to parts of the US. In 2018, there was another outage experienced worldwide.
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For those that rely on Alexa's wisdom, the good news is that Amazon tends to overcome technical difficulties quite quickly. So it’s hopefully only a matter of time until people can start commanding their robot helpers to turn off alarms and switch on lights once again.