Amazon is starting to test a new AI shopping agent, a feature it calls Buy for Me, with a subset users, the company announced in a blog post Thursday.If Amazon doesnt sell something that users are searching for, the Buy for Me feature will display products to users that other websites are selling. Then, users can select and request to purchase one of these products without ever leaving the Amazon Shopping app. Amazon is the latest company to unveil an AI shopping agent, joining firms such as OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity, which have all showcased similar agents that can visit websites and help users make purchases. Amazon is already most peoples go-to platform for anything theyd want to purchase on the internet, but Buy for Me could allow Amazon to capture even more e-commerce business than it does today.Behind the scenes, Amazons AI shopping agent will visit an external website, select a product that a user requested, and fill out the users name, shipping address, and payment details in order to purchase it, according to Amazon. (Credit: Amazon)Amazon says the new agentic shopping feature is powered by its Amazon Nova AI models, in addition to Anthropics Claude. One of those models could be Nova Act, an AI agent Amazon unveiled earlier this week that can use websites autonomously.Amazon said in the aforementioned blog post that Buy for Me uses encryption to securely insert your billing information on third-party sites, such that Amazon cant see what youre ordering from outside its platform. This is a unique approach compared to OpenAI and Googles agents, which require humans to fill out credit card information themselves, as well as Perplexitys AI agent, which has a prepaid debit card to make purchases.Handing your credit card information over to AI, which is prone to hallucinations and mistakes, may give some users serious pause. In TechCrunchs experience, AI shopping agents often take a long time to process requests, and often get stuck somewhere along the line.Amazon is basically asking users to trust that its agent wont accidentally purchase 1,000 pairs of socks instead of 10, for example. Its also asking that they accept less control over the shopping experience. If a customer needs to return or exchange an order, Buy for Me will direct them to the digital storefront from which the AI agent made the purchase.Well soon see how many people are willing to take the plunge.Topics