Amazon is jumping on the currently most popular bandwagon for interacting with AI agents: SMS. The company announced Friday the launch of a feature that lets customers chat with its Alexa AI agent via text message to help them make purchases, much like you can with AI agents like Muse or Instinct.
The move comes after Amazon blocked Meta’s Muse from querying its site in September. The company is rolling out these features just before the start of the holiday shopping season.
The e-commerce giant said some US customers will receive a text message asking them to activate the shopping feature. Those with access can text Alexa to shop on Amazon using natural language queries, from searching for items to adding them to cart and purchasing them.
The text agent builds on recent shopping-focused upgrades to Alexa, so it can manage lists, keep an eye on prices, search the web for items, compare products, and check order status. Users can also share a photo of an item or a person wearing an outfit to find similar listings on Amazon.
The company said that over time, Alexa will learn user preferences and suggest items accordingly.
The company said that users who are not invited to use this feature can sign up for a waiting list. The feature will be rolled out more widely in the coming weeks.
As the market for consumer-focused AI agents explodes, platforms like Amazon are creating their own to exploit this new avenue of user interaction. Last month, delivery company DoorDash said third-party agents had only placed hundreds of total orders on its platform so far and that it planned to focus more on developing its own text-based agent, launching in September.
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