Amazon has formally requested to be excluded from Meta’s newly launched Muse artificial intelligence agent experience, escalating tensions surrounding the growing and contentious landscape of autonomous agentic shopping.
The e-commerce giant confirmed to Retail Dive that it was given no advance notice that Meta’s Muse would access its online marketplace, nor did it grant authorization for the AI system to navigate or execute transactions on its platform. The Muse AI agent, which was officially introduced by Meta earlier this month, is designed to act on behalf of users, handling complex tasks such as browsing the web and making purchases autonomously.
The dispute highlights a deepening battle between major technology platforms and digital retailers over control of customer interactions, data privacy, and platform security. As AI agents become increasingly sophisticated, capable of bypassing traditional front-end user interfaces to interact directly with merchant websites, questions regarding consent, digital boundaries, and liability have taken center stage in the retail industry.
In a statement provided to Retail Dive, an Amazon spokesperson emphasized the need for transparency and mutual agreement when third-party applications attempt to transact business on external platforms.
"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," the Amazon spokesperson said. "This helps ensure a safe, secure, and reliable customer experience, and it is how others operate including food delivery apps and the restaurants they take orders for, delivery services apps and the stores they shop from, and online travel agencies and the airlines they book tickets on behalf of customers for."
Meta did not immediately respond to Retail Dive’s request for comment regarding Amazon’s demand for removal. Muse facilitates transactions using Link by Stripe, a checkout infrastructure tool that incorporates consumer-facing protections such as free coverage for lost or damaged items alongside no-fee returns. Despite these embedded safeguards, Amazon maintains that third-party systems should not engage with its marketplace without explicit prior coordination and consent.
The friction between Amazon and Meta over Muse is part of a broader, systemic conflict involving AI-driven commerce and platform access. Amazon has previously taken aggressive legal action against artificial intelligence companies engaging in similar autonomous shopping practices.
Last year, Amazon filed a lawsuit against AI company Perplexity after its Comet AI agent began accessing Amazon’s e-commerce site to complete purchases on behalf of users. That high-stakes legal battle remains active. The litigation hit a notable milestone in August when a U.S. appeals court vacated a temporary ruling that had previously barred Perplexity’s shopping tools from accessing Amazon’s infrastructure.
Meta and Perplexity are far from the only technology entities attempting to bridge the gap between consumers and external e-commerce platforms through automated purchasing tools. Ironically, Amazon itself has aggressively experimented with similar agentic commerce strategies, occasionally drawing sharp criticism and regulatory scrutiny from external merchants and industry observers.
Earlier this year, Amazon faced significant pushback from various businesses after launching a pilot program for its own AI-backed "Buy for Me" functionality. That feature was designed to allow shoppers to view and purchase products from external merchants and third-party sellers who do not traditionally sell their merchandise directly through Amazon. Under that system, Amazon finalized the transactions within its own proprietary platform on behalf of the buyer.
The "Buy for Me" pilot sparked controversy because Amazon proactively added seller listings found across the internet without securing explicit, prior permission from the affected brands. Instead of an opt-in model where sellers voluntarily join the program, Amazon adopted an opt-out approach, placing the burden on businesses to discover they were listed and actively request their removal. Amazon subsequently confirmed to Retail Dive that external sellers must explicitly email the company to opt out of the functionality.
This reliance on an opt-out framework by Amazon mirrors the very mechanism that the e-commerce giant now finds objectionable in Meta’s Muse agent. As the legal, technical, and commercial frameworks governing agentic AI continue to evolve, retailers and platform operators are grappling with fundamental questions regarding who controls the digital storefront. With ongoing litigation, shifting court rulings, and increasing pushback from major marketplace operators, the future rules of engagement for AI-powered shopping agents remain deeply uncertain.
