After blocking Muse, Amazon now lets users text Alexa to help them shop

Amazon is letting some U.S. customers shop by texting its Alexa AI agent, TechCrunch reports. The company announced the feature on Friday, timing it just ahead of the holiday shopping season. It follows Amazon's September decision to block Meta's Muse agent from querying its site, and it puts Alexa in the same text-message format used by agents such as Muse and Instinct.

Select customers will receive a text inviting them to turn the feature on, while others can join a waitlist. Amazon said a wider rollout will come in the coming weeks. Those with access can use everyday language to find items, add them to a cart and complete purchases. Drawing on Alexa's recent shopping upgrades, the agent can also manage lists, track prices, search across the web, compare products and check on orders. Customers can send a photo of an item, or of someone wearing an outfit, to find similar listings on Amazon. The company said Alexa will learn people's preferences over time and tailor its suggestions.

TechCrunch frames the launch as part of a broader push by platforms to build their own agents as consumer interest grows, rather than leave that interaction to outsiders. It points to DoorDash, which said last month that third-party agents had placed only hundreds of orders in total on its platform. DoorDash plans to focus instead on further developing the text-based agent it launched in September. For Amazon, the combination of blocking a rival agent and offering its own keeps shopping conversations on its own service.