Amazon Alexa’s early first name

October 28, 2024

Did you know “Alexa” wasn’t always Amazon’s smart assistant’s name? In its earliest development stages, it was called something altogether different. Was it … A.) Echofina, B.) Beza, C.) Laura or D.) Ivona?

The answer: D.) Ivona. That was the name of a Polish text-to-speech company Amazon acquired in 2013. Ivona was used as the foundation for Alexa’s voice technology. Imagine saying, “Hey, Ivona, turn off the music!”