Amazon’s AI now shops the whole internet for you
Amazon is testing “Buy for Me,” a new AI shopping agent that finds products on third-party sites when they’re not available on Amazon itself. The feature, announced in a blog post, allows users to request and purchase items without leaving the Amazon Shopping app.
This move puts Amazon in competition with OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity, all of which have launched similar AI shopping agents. By sourcing from across the web, Amazon aims to capture an even larger share of the e-commerce market.
Credit: Amazon
According to Amazon, the AI agent autonomously visits external websites, selects the user-requested product, and fills in personal, shipping, and payment details to complete the purchase. The agent is powered by Amazon Nova AI models and Anthropic’s Claude, potentially including Nova Act, an AI agent unveiled earlier this week.
Amazon emphasizes that Buy for Me uses encryption to “securely” input billing information on third-party sites, ensuring Amazon cannot view the specific purchases made outside its platform. This contrasts with OpenAI and Google’s agents, which require manual credit card entry, and Perplexity’s agent, which uses a prepaid debit card.
The company acknowledges concerns regarding AI errors, and states that Buy for Me will direct customers to the original digital storefront for any returns or exchanges. It remains to be seen how many users will adopt this approach.