Wake‑word cascades as AI DDoS

Using a shared voice trigger in a crowded venue can activate many devices at once, flooding backend services and breaking demos—or real services. Meta’s smart‑glasses demo failed because 'Hey, Meta' woke every headset nearby and all traffic was routed to the same dev server, effectively self‑DDoSing the system. This highlights an 'acoustic cascade' failure mode in ambient AI that current designs often ignore. — Designers and regulators need to treat wake‑word cascades as a safety and reliability risk for voice assistants in homes, offices, and public venues.