Amazon’s investment case is being tested on two fronts: whether its heavy artificial-intelligence spending will generate sufficient returns, and whether outside AI assistants could weaken its control over online shopping. The company’s cloud growth and expanding AI services have kept Amazon among analysts’ favored large-cap technology stocks despite those concerns.
Amazon executives have argued that demand is running ahead of available capacity.
The company’s retail position faces a separate challenge from Meta’s Muse, an AI agent designed to research and purchase products. Amazon blocked Muse from browsing and buying on its platform less than two weeks after the service launched, saying it had not authorized access to customer accounts, data scraping or transactions. Amazon cited customer security and user-experience concerns and said third-party purchasing applications should respect a service provider’s decision about whether to participate.
The dispute is notable because Amazon and Meta continue to work together in other areas, including Meta’s use of AWS chips for its AI efforts and arrangements that allow Amazon products to appear in Meta’s advertising ecosystem. Meta’s shares rose more than 11% on the day Muse reached the top position among free downloads in Apple’s and Google’s app stores, while Meta did not publicly respond to the blocking decision.
The conflict highlights a strategic tension inside AI commerce. Amazon is developing its own Alexa-based shopping assistant and has an interest in keeping the customer relationship, transaction data and purchase activity within its systems.
For Amazon, the verified financial picture currently favors the bullish argument: AWS growth has accelerated, AI revenue is expanding and operating profit has risen sharply. The counterweight is that the same AI buildout is reducing free cash flow and requiring unprecedented investment, while the Muse dispute shows that control over AI-mediated shopping remains contested rather than settled.