Just posted to my Forbes column about a growing contradiction at the heart of AI-powered commerce — and it’s one that Amazon now finds itself squarely in the middle of.
In this piece, I dig into Amazon’s Buy For Me beta, an AI shopping agent that lets Amazon customers buy products directly from other brands’ websites — sometimes without those brands’ knowledge or consent. For companies that have intentionally avoided selling on Amazon, this has led to surprise listings, out-of-stock orders, discontinued products, and unexpected customer service headaches. At the same time, Amazon has told other AI companies, like Perplexity, to keep their shopping agents off Amazon.com. Everyone seems to love AI agents — as long as they’re working for them.
One line that really captures the tension here: AI agents are revolutionary tools… but only when they’re your agents.