AI agents are starting to do more than answer questions. They can now shop, book flights and pay for things on a user’s behalf. Elon Musk said he had Grok Bot order LEGO directly from Lego’s
AI agents are starting to do more than answer questions. They can now shop, book flights and pay for things on a user’s behalf.
Elon Musk said he had Grok Bot order LEGO directly from Lego’s website. Amazon, meanwhile, has its own agentic shopping tool.
Amazon’s Buy for Me lets customers purchase select products from other retailers’ websites using their Amazon payment and shipping details.
BlackRock says crypto could power AI commerce (1:41)Amazon has also faced backlash for how aggressively its own agent shops elsewhere. CNBC reported in January that some retailers said their products appeared in Buy for Me without their permission.
Now Amazon is taking the opposite approach to outside agents trying to shop on its own site.
On Oct. 15, X user Nic Cruz Patane said his Grok Bot could no longer place Amazon orders. He posted a screenshot showing Amazon’s warning:
“Continued access by an unauthorized AI agent violates Amazon’s Conditions of Use, to which our customers have agreed.”
The Grok restriction has not been independently confirmed by Amazon. But Musk noticed.
Musk quote-posted Patane and told users to send Grok somewhere else.
“Just ask Grok @Bot to buy what you want someplace else and get a better deal. There are far more purchasing websites than just Amazon!”
The exchange escalated when users suggested an X Shop that Grok could use instead.
Musk later replied: “Maybe we should start a competitor to Amazon.” He offered no details or launch plan. Until then, he advices users to let Grok shop somewhere else.
Amazon already blocked Meta’s Muse shopping agent in September.
Muse users received the same warning shown in Patane’s screenshot. Amazon told GeekWire that third-party purchasing apps should “operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate.”
Amazon said Meta had not notified it that Muse would shop on the site and raised concerns about the agent identifying itself and handling customer credentials. Meta has countered with the response that Muse cannot see users’ passwords or payment details.
GeekWire also reported that Amazon has moved against shopping agents from Google and OpenAI, while separately suing Perplexity over its Comet browser.
That fight produced an important legal setback for Amazon.
On Aug. 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction against Perplexity. Judge Milan Smith wrote that blocking the agent “would impair consumer choice and needlessly limit development of a nascent technology.”
The court said it was the user who accessed Amazon, with Perplexity’s assistant acting on their behalf.
Amazon’s request for rehearing was denied on Sept. 10, leaving that appellate ruling in place. The underlying case however, continues in district court.
For now, the tension is clear.
Amazon is happy to let its AI shop across the web. But when other AI agents try the same on its site, Amazon shuts the door firmly.
Related: Elon Musk takes aim at the customer service industry
