Amazon blocks Meta's AI agent from shopping on its site

Meta has built an AI agent called Muse that can do what many artificial intelligences have long promised: open websites, fill out forms, order goods and shop on your behalf.

But when Muse tried to shop on Amazon, it was stopped. Amazon says that Meta had not been given permission to use the store, that the agent did not disclose that it was an AI agent while browsing, and that the way it handled passwords raised security concerns.

Meta defends itself, saying that Muse runs in a closed, secure digital environment and that it always asks for approval before taking sensitive actions such as purchases.

An agent can go around

The case illustrates an important point: The fact that an AI agent can do something doesn't mean it is allowed to. Muse may well know how to order a stroller, but it gets stopped if the website doesn't grant access.

At the same time, the case shows how hard it is to block an agent completely. Shopify, another large commerce platform, has instead chosen to work with Muse and give the agent access to the payment solution Shop Pay across its online stores. Some experts believe the case could end with Meta simply paying Amazon for access, a kind of new fee for AI agents that want to shop on behalf of users.

The battle for the customer

The central question is who will own the relationship with the customer in the future. If an AI agent knows your wishes, remembers your preferences and controls the payment itself, a store like Amazon risks becoming just one supplier among many, instead of the place where customers start their search.

According to observers, smaller stores and services have good reasons to open up to AI agents, because it is better to be chosen by an agent than to be skipped entirely. Big players like Amazon, on the other hand, have enough power to play hardball and deny access.

For ordinary consumers, the case could shape how people shop online in the future: whether it will be an AI agent that handles the shopping, and if so, who decides which stores the agent can shop at.