The internet doesn’t forget, and Amazon just learned that lesson the hard way. The company quietly yanked a controversial job posting for a “Creative Director – AI Dubbing” position mere hours after the anime community caught wind of it.
What seemed like Amazon’s next attempt to replace human voice actors with robotic voices hit a wall of backlash so fierce, the listing vanished faster than your willpower during a Flash Sale.
The job, which was seeking someone to scale AI use in anime dubbing for Prime Video, is now a digital ghost, both postings return a 404 error. Coincidence? Not likely.
The Banana Fish disaster still haunts them
This isn’t Amazon playing innocent. Just two months ago, during Thanksgiving weekend 2025, Prime Video dropped AI-generated English dubs for beloved anime series like Banana Fish, Vinland Saga, and No Game No Life. The results? An absolute trainwreck.
Emotionless voices delivering dramatic scenes like a bored GPS, awful audio mixing, and performances so flat they made cardboard look three-dimensional.
The backlash was instant and brutal. Voice actor Daman Mills, who voices Frieza in Dragon Ball Super, publicly torched Amazon’s decision, calling it a massive insult to performers.
Clips of the AI dubs went viral for all the wrong reasons, fans were horrified, voice actors were livid, and even Japanese studios like Kadokawa revealed they never authorized the AI dubs in any form.
Sentai Filmworks also stated they weren’t aware in advance. Amazon pulled the English versions within days, though some Spanish dubs stubbornly remained.
Victory or strategic retreat?
Here’s where things get interesting. The job posting disappearing could mean two things: either Amazon genuinely backed down after sensing another PR nightmare brewing, or they filled the position quietly and removed the listing to avoid scrutiny.
Skeptics are betting on the latter, corporations rarely abandon profit-driven strategies just because fans complain.
The listing was offering between $84,100 and $179,800 annually for someone experienced with AI platforms like Deepdub or ElevenLabs to oversee dubbing projects.
For context, professional anime dubbing costs around $50K per show according to Forbes, or roughly $10,000 per episode for a 12-episode season according to Anime News Network, pocket change for a company swimming in billions. But Amazon would rather invest six figures in someone to automate the process than pay artists directly.
Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is watching. Crunchyroll CEO Rahul Purini confirmed they won’t use AI for creative processes, including voice acting. SAG-AFTRA secured AI protections after a 118-day strike in 2023. And Japanese distributors are denying permissions for unauthorized AI use.
For now, human voices win this round. But don’t celebrate too hard, Amazon’s silence on the matter suggests they’re regrouping, not retreating.
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