On Amazon's earnings call, Andy Jassy says outside AI shopping agents are "still not great, nor more convenient than coming to a retailer directly"

Amazon's advertising revenue and customer shopping behavior are directly impacted if users shift to third-party AI agents.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated on an earnings call that external AI shopping agents are currently not superior to direct retail interaction. This assertion follows Amazon's decision in September to block Meta's AI assistant, Muse, from accessing its platform, citing terms of service violations. Jassy indicated that while Meta has secured partnerships with retailers like Shopify, Walmart, and Best Buy for Muse, Amazon has not. He clarified that these external agents were not responsible for Amazon's third-quarter advertising revenue shortfall. Amazon promotes its own AI shopping tool, Alexa for Shopping, which has seen significant customer adoption and higher average order values. Despite Amazon's stance, Meta's Muse has experienced rapid growth, with over 10 million users and a substantial average purchase size, highlighting differing views on the utility and adoption of AI shopping assistants.

Jassy's comments signal Amazon's strategic decision to control the customer journey and its associated advertising revenue streams. By limiting third-party AI access, Amazon aims to keep shoppers on its platform, preserving direct access to user data and its lucrative advertising business. This also positions Amazon's own Alexa for Shopping as the preferred AI integration, potentially driving higher sales and customer loyalty through its ecosystem.

This move could foster a bifurcated market where some retailers embrace third-party AI agents like Meta's Muse, while giants like Amazon protect their proprietary channels. For consumers, this means a potentially fragmented shopping experience depending on the retailer's strategy, and for competing AI developers, it underscores the challenge of gaining traction within dominant e-commerce ecosystems.