Amazon’s Bezos ‘asked Alexa to play videos that ridiculed’ Trump, new book says
Bezos would ask Alexa to play clips of comedian Stephen Colbert talking about then-candidate Trump
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos asked a prototype of the tech giant's Alexa smart-home products to "play videos that ridiculed" then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016, a new book reveals.
Bezos was reviewing the Echo Show, a voice-command smart device with a screen that can host a range of digital visual features from video calls to TV shows and currently sells for about $250 on Amazon.
TRUMP-BEZOS FEUD GOES BACK TO DECEMBER 2015
"Executives who worked on the project recalled that on several occasions when Bezos demoed the prototype, he spent the first few minutes asking Alexa to play videos that ridiculed a certain GOP presidential candidate," the new book about the Amazon founder titled "Amazon Unbound" by author Brad Stone released Tuesday reads.
Bezos would ask Alexa, the name for Amazon Echo's voice command feature, to show him videos of Trump saying "China" or clips of comedian Stephen Colbert talking about the presidential candidate back in 2016, according to Stone.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT JEFF BEZOS, THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF AMAZON
The book goes on to describe the candidate-turned-president's various attacks against Amazon made before the public on Twitter, accusing Bezos of avoiding taxes and buying The Washington Post "for purposes of keeping his taxes down," as Trump wrote in a 2015 tweet highlighted in Stone's book.
Stone notes that Bezos' acquisition of The Post had no impact on Amazon's corporate taxes.
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After discussing the president's tweets calling out Amazon in a series of back-and-forth emails with Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs Jeff Carney, Bezos ultimately decided to respond to the president's tweets.
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"Finally trashed by @realDonaldTrump. Will reserve him a seat on the Blue Origin Rocket. #sendDonaldtospace," the Amazon founder wrote at the time in reference to his space exploration company.