Amazon's Jassy Says Outside Shopping Agents Are 'Not Great' a Month After Blocking Meta's Muse

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told investors on October 29 that customers rarely buy through outside AI shopping agents, calling the experience "still not great, nor more convenient than coming to a retailer directly," according to Fortune.

What Jassy said

Speaking on the call after Amazon's third-quarter results, Jassy told investors not to worry that bots would take over Amazon's online store, Fortune reported. He did not name Meta's Muse, but the remarks came about a month after Amazon blocked that assistant. Jassy also said outside agents did not cause the weaker-than-expected advertising results in the quarter.

Amazon's own agent

Amazon has its own agent, Alexa for shopping. Per Jassy, as reported by Fortune:

• More than 400 million customers used it in the past year
• Customer interactions grew 570% year over year
• U.S. customers who use it spend 50% more per order than those who do not

The Muse dispute

Meta released the Muse assistant in early September. Amazon blocked it from its store that month, saying Muse's access would violate the conditions of use customers agree to, according to Fortune. Muse can shop without users visiting Amazon's site or app, bypassing the advertising that drives much of Amazon's profit.

Shopify, Walmart and Best Buy have welcomed Muse; Amazon has not. Last week Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada had set it up, that shopping is its most common use, and that the average purchase exceeds $200. Of retailers, he said: "We'll work with folks on the terms that makes sense for them."

Why it matters

How much shopping shifts to third-party assistants affects both retailers' advertising businesses and the terms on which AI agents can access commerce sites. The figures on Muse usage are Meta's own and have not been independently verified.