Alexa Isn’t Political, But She Can Make Campaign Donations

Candidates can sign up for voice-enabled fundraising

Starting Sept. 19, Amazon will allow the 20 or so main candidates in the 2020 presidential race to sign up for voice-enabled campaign donations. Then, at some point in October, Amazon customers will be able to say, “Alexa, donate to [candidate name]” to send their campaign up to $200.

The functionality is enabled by the Amazon Pay service, which uses the payment information in Amazon customers’ existing accounts to make donations.

In a blog post, Amazon said it is building on its experience in the 2018 midterm elections by adding more ways for Alexa to provide information, such as who is running, how the election process works, the timing of the next debate and candidates’ positions on major issues.

The post makes clear the platform is not taking sides—Amazon said it wants Alexa to be an objective source for information about the election and candidates.

“We

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