Amazon's experimental foray into agent-driven artificial intelligence shopping has triggered significant pushback from online retailers in the United States. The tech giant's initial testing of features like 'Buy for Me' has reportedly led to products being listed without explicit merchant consent, raising fresh concerns about the company's relationship with its vast network of third-party sellers.
What is Amazon's 'Buy for Me' AI Feature?
The controversy centers on Amazon's development of agentic AI systems, which are large language model (LLM) powered tools designed to take autonomous actions. The 'Buy for Me' feature, currently in a trial phase within the US, builds upon an earlier AI tool called 'Shop Direct' announced in February 2025. While 'Shop Direct' displays items from other brands' websites on Amazon's platform, 'Buy for Me' allows users to activate an AI agent that will independently purchase the identified product directly from the brand's site.
This initiative is part of Amazon's broader strategic bet on AI agents as the future of online commerce. In 2024, the company launched Rufus, an AI shopping chatbot that also possesses some agentic capabilities. However, the recent trial has hit a snag.
Retailer Complaints and AI Hallucinations
According to a CNBC report, several online retailers have taken to platforms like Reddit and Instagram to voice their frustrations. Their primary grievance is that their products were scraped and listed on Amazon's marketplace without their explicit permission. In some instances, the AI feature reportedly "hallucinated" products for sale that were either never in stock or had never been offered by the retailer.
The backlash underscores two critical challenges. Firstly, agentic commerce technology is still nascent and faces significant operational hurdles. Amazon is not alone in this space; companies like OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity are also exploring features that enable purchases directly within chatbot interfaces. Secondly, the incident threatens to further strain Amazon's relationship with independent sellers, who account for more than 60 percent of sales on its platform.
Broader Context and Amazon's Response
This tension occurs against a backdrop of ongoing regulatory scrutiny. Notably, in 2024, India's antitrust regulator found that Amazon breached competition laws by favoring select sellers and engaging in deep discounting—a finding that echoes global concerns about the platform's practices.
In response to the criticism, an Amazon spokesperson stated that the trial runs have received positive feedback and are designed to help customers discover products not sold on Amazon.com while assisting businesses in reaching new customers. The company emphasized that businesses can opt out at any time by emailing a dedicated address, and they will be promptly removed from the programs.
Simultaneously, a turf war is emerging in the agentic AI arena. In November 2025, Amazon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity, aiming to block its AI-powered browser, Comet, from accessing Amazon's marketplace. Amazon accused Perplexity of violating terms of service, while Perplexity argued its agent acts with the same permissions as a human user.
The unfolding situation highlights the growing pains associated with deploying advanced, autonomous AI in complex commercial ecosystems, balancing innovation with the trust and consent of business partners.
