Amazon’s Alexa speaker is randomly laughing at users and it’s really freaking people out

AMAZON customers are unplugging their smart speakers and sending complaints to the company after experiencing a “really creepy” malfunction.

ALEXA, you’re scaring me.

Online retailer Amazon has admitted its popular AI powered speaker, which goes by the name of Alexa, has been freaking people out with its spontaneous creepy laugh.

Users of the device have flooded the company with complaints and posts on social media which show the device randomly laughing like a deranged clown.

The smart speaker — which launched in Australia this year — is connected to the internet and is supposed to just respond to questions posed to it by users abount mundane things like the weather or traffic. But an apparent glitch has caused some speakers to randomly let out a sinister sounding laugh.

“There’s a good chance I get murdered tonight,” joked one user on Twitter after hearing their speaker let out a cackle.

Others have also shared their experience of the unsettling glitch on social media with some saying they responded by unplugging their device.

Wow, the footage of Alexa laughing is actually terrifying pic.twitter.com/QRd7V17Q0M

— Alejandro Griswold-Peña (@HashtagGriswold) March 7, 2018

So Alexa decided to laugh randomly while I was in the kitchen. Freaked @SnootyJuicer and I out. I thought a kid was laughing behind me. pic.twitter.com/6dblzkiQHp

— CaptHandlebar (@CaptHandlebar) February 23, 2018

Lying in bed about to fall asleep when Alexa on my Amazon Echo Dot lets out a very loud and creepy laugh... there’s a good chance I get murdered tonight.

— Gavin Hightower (@GavinHightower) February 26, 2018

Having an office conversation about pretty confidential stuff and Alexa just laughed. Anybody else ever have that?

It didn't chime as if we had accidentally triggered her to wake. She simply just laughed. It was really creepy.

— David Woodland (@DavidSven) March 1, 2018

so my mom & I are just sitting in the living room, neither of us said a word & our Alexa lit up and laughed for no reason. she didn’t even say anything, just laughed.

we unplugged her.

— taylor wade (@taylorkatelynne) March 5, 2018

In a statement released to The Verge, Amazon said: “We’re aware of this and working to fix it.”

However it is still unclear what caused the glitch or when it will be patched.

The story has captivated, confused and creeped out consumers.

“Sometimes it happens just after I take off my pants,” joked late night TV show host Jimmy Kimmel this week.

“Why did they even program it to laugh in the first place. Are we really that desperate for approval that we need the machine to laugh at us?”

As Amazon works to fix the malfunction, some have joked it could be the first sign of the robot uprising.

And I for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

Plot twist: Amazon confirms Alexa devices are randomly laughing, but it's unable to determine why and any attempts to stop the laughter are thwarted.

— John Paczkowski (@JohnPaczkowski) March 7, 2018