Amazon has reportedly blocked Meta’s new autonomous personal assistant, Muse, from navigating and purchasing products on Amazon.com on behalf of shoppers. The restriction follows unsuccessful attempts by the retail giant to convince Facebook’s parent company to voluntarily drop Amazon from the artificial intelligence (AI) tool’s automated shopping routines. Last year, Amazon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity, asking the company to stop their bots and that the e-tailer does not want to be part of Comet browser.GeekWire reported that Amazon said it never consented to the integration. It added that Meta launched the feature without advance notice, designed the agent to browse without identifying itself as automated software, and appears to harvest and retain customer credentials, a combination Amazon warns poses serious privacy and security hazards.By Sunday (September 20) night, consumers attempting to use Muse for purchases on Amazon encountered an explicit roadblock message: “Continued access by an unauthorized AI agent violates Amazon’s Conditions of Use, to which our customers have agreed.”According to the report, an Amazon spokesperson emphasized that external platforms should adhere to basic commercial boundaries:“We think it’s fairly straightforward that third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate.”
Meta’s position on credential security
Meta has previously rejected allegations that its agent mishandles sensitive user information. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram noted that Muse operates without direct visibility into user passwords or banking details. It also stated that any log-in information entered by a consumer is placed into protected storage, enabling the model to utilise credentials without reading them directly, even when an individual types them straight into a browser session.The clash creates an awkward rift between two longstanding commercial allies. Since 2023, Amazon has allowed consumers to buy products directly within Facebook and Instagram feeds. In April, Meta inked a multibillion-dollar contract to run its autonomous AI agents using Amazon’s custom Graviton server chips.The report said that the friction exposes a wider battle over which tech firm maintains ownership of the shopper relationship as automated agents begin executing digital commerce on behalf of people.
