Amazon requested removal from Meta's Muse AI agent experience (Retail Dive - Technology). The Muse agent was launched by Meta earlier this month and can make purchases on behalf of users (Retail Dive - Technology). Amazon was not given advance notice that Muse would access its e-commerce site and did not authorize it (Retail Dive - Technology).
An Amazon spokesperson told Retail Dive that third-party applications offering to make purchases on behalf of customers should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about participation (Retail Dive - Technology). The company compared this to how food delivery apps and restaurants, delivery services and stores, and online travel agencies and airlines operate with explicit agreements (Retail Dive - Technology). Muse can make purchases using Link by Stripe, which includes protections such as free coverage for damaged or lost items and no-fee returns (Retail Dive - Technology).
This conflict mirrors Amazon's ongoing lawsuit against AI company Perplexity after its Comet AI agent accessed Amazon's site to make purchases for users; a U.S. appeals court in August overturned a temporary ruling barring Perplexity's shopping tools from accessing the site (Retail Dive - Technology). Ironically, Amazon itself faced backlash earlier this year when it piloted its AI-backed "Buy for Me" functionality, which proactively added seller listings from across the internet without express permission, requiring sellers to email Amazon to opt out (Retail Dive - Technology).