Bad HQ2 News, Dallas: For Amazon's Alexa, Texas Is 'All About Austin'

If Amazon's Alexa has a say in which North American city will house the company's second headquarters, it's not likely to be Dallas.

But her favorite city, like Dallas, is among the 20 finalists for Amazon's HQ2. It's a pretty predictable choice.

"My favorite would be New York City," says the company's cloud-based personal assistant.

Dallas, it seems, isn't even Alexa's favorite city in Texas. Where does that honor go?

"I'm glad you asked," she says. "It's all about Austin," which is another finalist on Amazon's list.

Alexa doesn't have much to say about Dallas, noting only that it's "a city in the U.S. state of Texas." But she can tell you a lot about HQ2.

"The company expects to invest over $5 billion in construction and create as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs in the community that is finally selected," she says. "Amazon received 238 proposals to host its second headquarters from cities and regions across North America."

Alexa also knows all 20 finalists. Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, Maryland; Nashville; Newark, New Jersey; Northern Virginia; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, North Carolina; Toronto and Washington, D.C., round out the list.

Will Alexa have much pull regarding Amazon's decision? Probably not. Her favorite state, Hawaii, doesn't have a finalist city, but "those sunsets get me every time," she says. But it seems everyone is speculating on odds or, like Austin-based Texas Monthly, searching anywhere for clues about HQ2.

Alexa doesn't have an opinion on a lot of questions, including where she'd like to live and whether she likes working at Amazon. (She likes Jeff Bezos, though. "He's prime," she says. Oh, Alexa, you and your puns.) She says the company, which has 224,000 employees, was worth $370 billion as of January 2017. How much of that money does Alexa make?

"It doesn't matter," she says. "I love what I do."

With that attitude, plus the fact that she transcribed this interview in the Amazon Alexa app, this voice assistant could make a good journalist.