After blocking Muse, Amazon now lets users text Alexa to help them shop
After blocking Muse, Amazon now lets users text Alexa to help them shop
Amazon has introduced a feature that enables users to shop with Alexa AI via SMS, supporting actions like searching for products, adding items to the cart, and purchasing. It also allows managing shopping lists, tracking prices, searching for products across web pages, comparing products, and checking order status. This feature is based on recent shopping-related updates to Alexa, where users can share images to search for similar products. Amazon states that Alexa will learn user preferences over time and provide recommendations. Some US users have received invitations to enable the feature, while those who haven't can join the waiting list. The feature will be rolled out more broadly in the coming weeks.
Same story1 other outlet also reported this
How the accounts differ:The Verge mentions the feature is based on Alexa for Shopping launched in May, while TechCrunch does not mention the date of the launch.
- The Verge · AI··First
Amazon will allow users to send shopping lists to Alexa via SMS
- TechCrunch · AI··+10 min·Reading now
Amazon has launched a feature allowing users to shop with Alexa AI via SMS after blocking Meta Muse.
Adds:TechCrunch adds that the feature allows managing shopping lists, tracking prices, cross-webpage searching, comparing products, and checking order status.
In order of publication · later reports are added as they appear · Compared by AI from each outlet’s title and summary
6:10 AM PST · November 6, 2026
Amazon is jumping on the currently most popular bandwagon for interacting with AI agents: texting. The company on Friday said it is launching a feature that lets customers chat with its Alexa AI agent over text messages to help them shop, 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 the features out just before the start of the holiday shopping season.
The e-commerce giant said select U.S. customers will get a text asking them to enable the shopping feature. Those with access can text Alexa to shop on Amazon using natural language queries, spanning everything from searching for items, adding them to cart, and purchasing.
The text agent builds on the recent shopping-focused upgrades to Alexa, and so can manage lists, keep tabs on prices, search for items across the web, compare products, and check the status of orders. Users can also share a picture of an item or someone wearing an outfit to search for similar listings on Amazon.
The company said over time, Alexa will learn users’ preferences and suggest items accordingly.
The company said users who don’t get invited to use this feature can sign up to a waitlist. The feature will be rolled out more broadly in the coming weeks.
As the market for consumer-focused AI agents balloons, platforms like Amazon are building their own to tap this new avenue of user interaction. Last month, delivery company DoorDash said that third-party agents had so far only placed hundreds of orders in total on its platform, and that it plans to concentrate on developing its own text-based agent, launched in September, further.
Topics
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web.
You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal.
Source: TechCrunch · AI · techcrunch.com