Elon Musk hints at launching Amazon rival as e-commerce giant blocks its Grok Al bots: Here is what happened
Follow UsElon Musk hinted at launching an Amazon rival after an X user suggested an AI-powered shopping platform.
Amazon has blocked third-party AI assistants, including Meta's Muse, from making purchases on its website.
Musk has not confirmed plans to launch X Shop or a standalone online shopping platform.
Online shopping could change forever, as X chief Elon Musk recently hinted at the possibility of launching an Amazon-like shopping platform. Everything started when an X user claimed that Amazon was blocking his Grok-powered bots from placing orders on its website. He further went ahead and suggested that Musk should launch a new online store called X Shop to let customers shop with the help of AI assistants. Responding to the suggestion, Musk said that his companies could consider starting a competitor to Amazon. However, he has not confirmed any plans to launch the service. Here is everything you need to know about the proposal.
SurveyElon Musk hinted Amazon competitor
The discussion started when an X user claimed that Amazon was blocking Grok-powered AI bots from placing orders on its website. The user said one of their AI bots helped manage Amazon returns and questioned whether customers would consider other shopping platforms if their AI assistants could no longer access Amazon.
The user then suggested that Musk launch an online store called X Shop. The proposed service could offer an alternative for people who want AI assistants to handle online shopping tasks.
Musk responded positively to the idea as he wrote, ‘Maybe we should start a competitor to Amazon.’
Maybe we should start a competitor to Amazon 🤔
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2026
However, the billionaire did not confirm whether his companies would develop such a service. Whether Musk will set up X Shop as a standalone shopping website or it will become part of the existing X platform still remains unknown.
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Amazon blocks Meta’s AI shopping assistant
Amazon has been restricting third-party AI assistants that attempt to shop on its website for a while now. Not only that, but the e-commerce platform, which was recently confirmed to GeekWire, had blocked Meta’s Muse AI assistant from making purchases on Amazon.com for customers.
Amazon said Meta had not informed it that Muse would access its platform. The company also raised concerns that the AI assistant did not identify itself while browsing and appeared to capture and store customer login details.
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According to Amazon, it had tried to get Meta to exclude the shopping platform from Muse’s services before blocking access. Customers attempting to use the assistant were shown a warning about unauthorised AI agents violating Amazon’s Conditions of Use.
Amazon said third-party services that make purchases for customers should operate openly and respect the decisions of the businesses they access.
