Amazon CEO dismisses shopping AI agents as not yet convenient
Andy Jassy said outside shopping agents such as Meta's Muse are not yet a convenient alternative to buying directly from retailers, as Amazon touts its own Alexa shopping assistant.
Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy told investors on Thursday that he is not worried that bots will overrun the company's online store. Speaking on an analyst call following Amazon's quarterly earnings report, Jassy said few customers are buying through outside shopping agents because the experience is « still not great, nor more convenient than coming to a retailer directly. »
The comments came about a month after Amazon blocked Meta Platforms' new AI assistant, Muse, from accessing its online store. In September, Amazon said Muse's access would violate the conditions of use that customers agree to. Jassy did not name Muse directly during the call, but his remarks addressed the broader category of third-party shopping agents.
The dispute reflects a larger tension in e-commerce. Muse can bypass the usual path of a shopper visiting a retailer's website or app, and with it the advertisements that serve as a key profit driver for companies like Amazon. Jassy said outside agents were not the cause of the company's weaker-than-expected advertising performance in its third quarter.
Meta has moved in the opposite direction, signing up retail partners that welcome its agent, including Shopify, Walmart and Best Buy. Amazon has not joined that group. Instead, the company is promoting its own tool, a shopping assistant called « Alexa for shopping, » which it is eager for customers to use.
On the call, Jassy said more than 400 million customers have used Alexa for shopping over the past year, and that customer interactions with the tool have grown 570 percent year over year. He also said U.S. customers who use the shopping agent spend 50 percent more per order than those who do not.
Meta has seen rapid uptake of Muse. The AI agent quickly overtook ChatGPT as the top free app on Apple's App Store. Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said last week that more than 10 million people in the United States and Canada had set up the Muse assistant since its release in early September. The app can connect to calendars, emails and other phone functions to carry out tasks autonomously for users, and it is one of several personal assistants that technology companies, including OpenAI, have rolled out in recent months.
Zuckerberg said shopping has been the most common use for Muse, with more than a quarter of users engaging in purchases and the average purchase topping $200. « Obviously, not everyone wants to be an early adopter. That's fine, » Zuckerberg said. « We'll work with folks on the terms that makes sense for them. »
The split between the two companies sets up a test of whether consumers will embrace AI agents that shop on their behalf, and whether retailers will open their storefronts to them or keep them out in favor of their own assistants.
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