Challenges of monetizing conversational AI voice tech

https://9to5google.com/2022/11/19/amazon-alexa-layoffs/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11413913/Tech-layoffs-hit-Amazon-Workers-unprofitable-units-like-Alexa-lost-5B.html

Under strict scrutiny is the firm's Alexa business, which has recorded an operating loss of more than $5billion a year - despite boasting more than 10,000 staffers and being a major recipient of investment capital.

https://www.speechtechmag.com/Articles/Editorial/Features/The-Challenges-of-Monetizing-Speech-Applications-131634.aspx

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/11/amazon-alexa-is-a-colossal-failure-on-pace-to-lose-10-billion-this-year/

Just about every plan to monetize Alexa has failed, with one former employee calling Alexa "a colossal failure of imagination," and "a wasted opportunity." This month's layoffs are the end result of years of trying to turn things around. Alexa was given a huge runway at the company, back when it was reportedly the "pet project" of former CEO Jeff Bezos. An all-hands crisis meeting took place in 2019 to try to turn the monetization problem around, but that was fruitless. By late 2019, Alexa saw a hiring freeze, and Bezos started to lose interest in the project around 2020.