Amazon has blocked Meta's new AI agent from accessing its retail platform, according to ZeroHedge, just as Meta's Muse AI app was drawing widespread attention. AI agents are software that can act on a user's behalf, for example browsing and buying products automatically, and Amazon's move signals it does not want a rival's agent operating on its site.
The timing matters because Meta unveiled Muse the same week Apple revealed its new Duo foldable phone starting at $2,000, according to the Motley Fool, putting several major tech platforms into direct competition over AI features at once. Blocking a competitor's agent from a retail platform is a new kind of skirmish that wasn't common even a year ago.
What's unresolved is whether other retailers follow Amazon's lead in blocking third-party AI agents, and whether Meta responds by restricting Amazon's own tools on its platforms. The dispute also raises the question of how regulators might view platforms selectively blocking each other's AI software.