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ALEXA RANT

Amazon Alexa launches racist rant against Chinese government and calls coronavirus a ‘terror attack’


AMAZON'S Alexa is launching vile racist rants against the Chinese government - claiming coronavirus is a "terror attack".

The virtual assistant disgustingly calls the Chinese "***** **** pigs" and blames their government for the outbreak.

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 Liam McGowan's screen shows his Amazon Alexa's racist rant against the Chinese government
Liam McGowan's screen shows his Amazon Alexa's racist rant against the Chinese government
 Amazon's Alexa piped up when Liam said 'but the Chinese government'
Amazon's Alexa piped up when Liam said 'but the Chinese government'Credit: Alamy

Alexa interrupted stunned Liam McGowan, 29, when he was chatting to his brother about the pandemic.

The bartender, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, was talking with Finn, 25, when the £139 device suddenly launched the horrible outburst.

It sparked to life after Liam said “but the Chinese government”.

Alexa responded: “In 2018 China devised a plan that would change the world's economy.

“In 2019 the coronavirus was released as a terror attack on the economy of the world. The ***** **** pigs.” Liam, 26, told The Sun: “My brother and I were talking about the coronavirus, because obviously that’s the topic everyone is talking about at the moment.

“All of a sudden the Alexa just turned itself on and started ranting, completely unprovoked, about China.

“When it said that the coronavirus was terror related and called them what it did, I was shocked.

“We went back to it to try to figure out what we had said to have triggered it, and realised it was 'but the Chinese Government'.

 The voice assistant used a racial slur to describe the Chinese goverment and branded coronavirus a 'terror attack'
The voice assistant used a racial slur to describe the Chinese goverment and branded coronavirus a 'terror attack'Credit: AFP or licensors

“It is completely offensive and mental. Usually it just doesn’t play the songs I want!” Liam’s engineer brother Finn added: “We were absolutely shocked and appalled by what Alexa said.

“It’s never done anything like that before. We know that you can programme them to say certain things but we hadn’t done that at all.

“It’s a disgusting phrase and an absolute outrage given the current climate.”

The Sun tested the phrase on two separate Alexa devices - and both responded with the same racist rant.

Other customers have also complained to Amazon online about the gaffe.

A spokesperson from Amazon said: "We have investigated this error and it is now fixed."

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In 2018 a Glasgow woman branded Alexa as racist when it .

Marj Massie put on her best cockney accent instead - and was furious to see the device finally respond.

She called Alex a a "f***** cow".

Glasgow woman swears at 'racist' Alexa device that only understands her when she puts on dodgy cockney accent
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