Amazon.com (AMZN.US) is advancing the integration of artificial intelligence into its core e-commerce search experience. The company announced on Wednesday that users searching on its website and mobile apps will soon receive product recommendations and comparison results generated directly by a large language model, tailored to the context of their queries. This new feature, named "Alexa for Shopping," will replace the previous shopping assistant bot "Rufus," which was primarily used to summarize product reviews and offer buying advice, requiring users to click a blue-and-orange icon to activate it.
Amazon stated that the new AI-powered search experience will be rolled out by default to users in the United States starting this week. The move aims to prevent consumers from turning to AI chat tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini for product searches and shopping decisions. In recent years, internet search platforms, including Google (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) Search, have increasingly integrated AI-generated answers into their search experiences, with some AI platforms even partnering with retailers to enhance e-commerce guidance capabilities.
Daniel Rausch, Vice President of Alexa at Amazon, noted that the retail industry is highly competitive and that AI search can help users make shopping decisions more easily. He stated, "Consumers have many retail choices, and we face significant competition. If you can make shopping simpler and truly help users, you will ultimately benefit from it."
According to Amazon, the new system will automatically determine whether to invoke AI capabilities based on how users search. For instance, when users want to compare coffee machines, generate a skincare routine and purchase related products directly, or set a birthday reminder and receive gift suggestions, the system will automatically produce personalized AI recommendations. For simple keyword searches like "pants" or "bananas," the system will continue to display traditional product listings.
In addition to the search upgrade, Amazon announced that users of Echo smart speakers with screens will soon be able to browse the full Amazon website directly. Previously, Alexa's shopping functionality on smart speakers had relatively limited browsing capabilities.
Amazon began rolling out its upgraded AI assistant, Alexa+, in February 2025. The product, which underwent extensive development and essentially rebuilt Alexa's original software architecture, is available for a subscription fee of $20 per month, though Amazon Prime members can use it for free.
As for the replaced Rufus, Amazon mentioned that the feature was used by approximately 300 million users in 2025. Currently, both Rufus and the new Alexa for Shopping feature are available free of charge to all users.
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