Amazon.com Inc has blocked Meta Platforms Inc’s new artificial intelligence (AI) agent from its retail site after the social media company declined a request to remove the bot.
Meta’s Muse, which was introduced earlier this month, is designed to help people carry out such common online tasks as shopping and booking appointments. Amazon prohibits other companies from deploying automated tools to shop its site and started blocking Muse on Sunday (Sept 20) night, a spokesperson said. Shoppers using Muse see a series of pop-ups saying its use violates Amazon’s terms of use.
"We think it’s fairly straightforward that third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate,” Amazon spokesperson Lara Hendrickson said in an emailed statement, adding that an opt-in requirement is standard practice for food delivery apps and online travel agencies. "Agentic third-party applications such as Muse have the same obligations, and we’ve requested that Meta remove Amazon from the experience.”
Meta didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. GeekWire reported Amazon’s move to block Muse earlier.
Amazon builds its own automated shopping tools, but has sought to prevent rivals’ bots from browsing and making purchases from its catalogue. The company last year sued Perplexity AI Inc, saying the widely used AI startup sought to conceal its shopping agents after Amazon asked Perplexity to remove them. The legal skirmish is widely seen as a high-profile test case that could help determine the rules of the road governing agentic shopping.
So far, consumers are mostly using bots to research products rather than let them make purchases. So Amazon’s move to block shopping agents from accessing its site means the company is unlikely to lose much business. But if consumers start using AI agents to buy stuff, the bots could select other e-commerce sites, costing Amazon sales and advertising revenue.
Amazon chief executive officer Andy Jassy said earlier this year that the agentic shopping experience left much to be desired, and that the bots often flubbed pricing or other data.
"We’re having conversations with all those folks to try and make that better and find something that works for customers and all the companies,” he said in April. – Bloomberg
