Amazon has now blocked at least two AI shopping agents in about a month: Meta’s Muse in September and Elon Musk’s Grok Bot on Thursday, October 15. The Grok Bot block came to light when a user posted an error saying continued access by an unauthorized AI agent violates Amazon’s terms. We have not seen Amazon comment on Grok Bot specifically.
What Amazon has said
On Muse, accounts say Amazon objected that Meta did not warn it in advance, that Muse does not identify itself as an agent while browsing and that it appears to store users’ account credentials, which Amazon says creates privacy and security risks. Meta has said Muse cannot see users’ passwords or payment details and that stored data is kept in a protected environment. In general terms, an Amazon spokesperson has said third-party shopping apps should disclose who they are and respect merchants’ decisions about taking part.
Not the first fight
Amazon sued Perplexity in November 2025 over its Comet browser, saying the agent disguised itself as a regular Chrome browser to reach user accounts. A court granted Amazon an injunction in March, but the Ninth Circuit overturned it in August, reasoning that the user was the one accessing the site and the agent was only a tool. On September 10 the court rejected Amazon’s request for a retrial, while noting that Amazon can still enforce its terms of service.
Amazon has its own agents
Amazon runs its own shopping assistants, including Rufus and a Buy for Me feature that can complete a purchase on another merchant’s site after the user confirms the order.
Our take: the pattern is consistent. Amazon allows agents it controls or has a deal with, and blocks ones that do not identify themselves or ask first. Grok Bot is the newest test, and Musk’s answer was that there are far more places to buy than Amazon, which we covered in Amazon Blocks Musk’s Grok Bot and He Floats an Amazon Rival. Whether agents can shop where the biggest store says no will be decided by stores and courts more than by the agents, and the Perplexity ruling shows the courts have not simply sided with Amazon. What Grok Bot’s own documents say about cards is in Musk’s Card Photo Pitch Meets the Fine Print on Grok Bot.
