Siri thought ‘Despacito’ was Bulgaria’s national anthem

For a brief moment on Wednesday, Apple’s voice assistant Siri thought that the national anthem of Bulgaria was “Despacito”.

When asked “What is the national anthem of Bulgaria?” Siri responded with an info page for the Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee song, and the definitive answer: “The national anthem of Bulgaria is Despacito”.

The Verge’s Tom Warren was among the first to notice the issue.

Siri’s switch to Google went well then… pic.twitter.com/bbG5hI9hQA

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) October 4, 2017

While Siri wouldn’t be far off judging by the song’s viral popularity — the video does boast over 3.9-billion views at the time of writing — it isn’t quite correct. Bulgaria’s national anthem is the similar-sounding (not really) “Mila Rodino”, and has been since 1964.

In our tests, it seems that Apple had remedied the issue, with Siri now producing the correct info page, But it does suggest just how immense a phenomenon “Despacito” has become.

Not everyone is quite as supportive of the track as Siri though.

Can we all just agree to stop playing Despacito every 21 seconds for while?

— Keegan Connor Tracy (@keegolicious) October 3, 2017

“Despacito” will likely become the first video to breach the four-billion views mark on YouTube later this month, just two months after it broke three-billion.

Feature image: Kārlis Dambrāns via Flickr (CC BY 2.0, resized)