Amazon blocks Meta’s Muse shopping agent as startup rivalry comes into view

Amazon cut off Muse from shopping on Amazon.com on customers’ behalf.[3] Amazon also said Muse does not identify itself while browsing the store.[5] Paul Graham disagreed with Amazon blocking Muse from making purchases on its site.[2] Separately, the restrictions on AI shopping agents could create an opening for startups to build a rival to Amazon.[1]

Amazon said Muse appears to capture and store customer credentials, and that it scrapes account data, raising questions about how sensitive information is handled.[5] Meta’s account differs: it said Muse cannot see users’ passwords or payment methods and stores shared credentials securely.[3] The available evidence presents both companies’ claims but does not resolve the disagreement.[5][3]

Amazon said agents should operate transparently, let retailers opt out, offer mutual value and improve the customer experience.[4] Those conditions set out the company’s stated expectations for shopping agents, rather than evidence that Muse meets them. Amazon has also targeted shopping agents built by Google and OpenAI.[4] For teams considering agent-led shopping, the dispute highlights practical questions to examine: whether an agent identifies itself, what account information it accesses and whether the retailer can decline participation.[5][4] The evidence does not establish a general policy or outcome for other retailers.

Meta launched Muse on September 8; it is free, offers paid subscription tiers and is available on iOS, Android, muse.ai and WhatsApp.[3] A week after launch, Muse reached No. 1 in Apple’s U.S. free-app chart, ahead of ChatGPT.[3] The agent connects to services including email, calendars, payments, dining and shopping.[3] Amazon products have been purchasable inside Facebook and Instagram since 2023, and Meta signed a multibillion-dollar deal in April to run agentic AI workloads on Amazon’s Graviton chips.[3] Amazon also launched Alexa for Shopping in May to research products and make recommendations.[3]