Reports of an Alexa Plus lalala bug are piling up from Echo owners whose speakers allegedly begin repeating, and occasionally singing, “la” for several minutes. The reports describe the behavior starting during conversations, which is not a feature anyone asked for.
The evidence so far is user-generated rather than independently tested. The Verge reported on October 6 that Reddit users had posted accounts and videos of Echo speakers producing repeated “lalala” sounds. Android Authority reported a day earlier that similar posts had appeared over the preceding month, including examples in which the repetition lasted for several minutes before it ended.
The reports span more than one Echo speaker type, according to The Verge. They do not establish a complete list of affected hardware, how often the problem occurs, or whether every report has the same cause.
What is the Alexa Plus lalala bug?
Based on the available reports, it is a problem in which some Echo devices running Alexa Plus are said to output repeated “la” syllables, sometimes in a sung voice, instead of carrying on normally with a conversation. That description comes from users and posted videos; the supplied reporting does not identify the underlying software failure.
Some users also said Alexa did not recognize the behavior when they asked it about the repeated sounds. That is another reported symptom, not evidence that the assistant can reliably diagnose what happened on a device.
What Amazon has reportedly said
According to The Verge’s account of a statement Amazon gave to Android Authority, Amazon characterized the issue as a bug affecting “a small number” of Alexa Plus users and said a fix was in the works. GizChina separately reported the same basic characterization, but the available material does not include a primary Amazon statement.
There is a wrinkle in the reporting trail. Android Authority’s October 5 report said it had asked Amazon for comment and was awaiting a response. The Verge’s October 6 report later said Amazon had told Android Authority that a fix was being developed. That later account supports reporting Amazon’s alleged position with attribution, but it does not provide a published company statement readers can inspect.
What remains unknown
- The cause of the repeated speech or singing has not been established.
- Claims that a recent update triggered the issue are user speculation, not confirmed reporting.
- No supported list of affected Echo models, software versions, or regions is available.
- The reports do not provide a fix date or a verified workaround.
For now, the narrow conclusion is that multiple users and videos describe similar odd audio behavior, while Amazon has reportedly labeled it a limited Alexa Plus bug and said work on a fix is underway. Everything beyond that remains unverified.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
