Amazon Launches Text-Based Shopping Capability for Alexa Assistant in US

Amazon.com Inc. has introduced a new conversational commerce feature enabling U.S. customers to text shopping requests directly to its AI assistant, Alexa for Shopping. The text-to-shop capability allows users to search and compare items, track deals, build shopping lists, and execute checkouts via text messaging. Currently offered to an invited group of U.S. shoppers before a broader release in the coming weeks, the feature expands Alexa beyond voice interactions. The launch follows Amazon's blocking of Meta's Muse AI shopping tool and legal actions involving Perplexity's Comet assistant.