AI Commerce Threatens Retail Giants eBay and Amazon

Agentic AI shopping bots could render traditional e-commerce marketplaces obsolete, forcing platforms to adapt

Published on Feb. 4, 2026

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Retail giants like Amazon and eBay are facing a new challenge from the rise of agentic AI shopping bots that can autonomously research, select, and purchase products without human involvement. These AI agents, powered by large language models from companies like Perplexity AI, OpenAI, and Google, could potentially bypass the traditional e-commerce marketplaces and render them obsolete. In response, platforms like eBay have updated their user agreements to restrict agentic commerce tools, while Amazon has sued Perplexity AI to stop its AI shopping assistant from accessing Amazon's platform. Merchants are now navigating how to best expose their brands, data, and products to this new AI-driven ecosystem while maintaining control and generating revenue.

Why it matters

The rise of agentic AI shopping bots poses a significant threat to the traditional e-commerce marketplace model, which relies on merchants paying fees to access large pools of shoppers and a range of services. If these AI agents can bypass the marketplaces and complete end-to-end transactions directly, it could fundamentally disrupt the business models of giants like Amazon and eBay. This shift has major implications for merchants, who must now figure out how to adapt and maintain control over their brands, data, and customer relationships in this new AI-driven commerce landscape.

The details

Agentic AI shopping bots, powered by large language models from companies like Perplexity AI, OpenAI, and Google, are rapidly advancing in their ability to autonomously research, select, and purchase products without human involvement. This poses a threat to traditional e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, which rely on merchants paying fees to access their platforms and services. If these AI agents can bypass the marketplaces and complete transactions directly, it could render the marketplaces obsolete, with the platforms becoming mere 'back-end fulfillment' providers. In response, eBay has updated its user agreement to block agentic commerce tools without permission, while Amazon has sued Perplexity AI to stop its AI shopping assistant from accessing Amazon's platform. Merchants are now grappling with how to best expose their brands, data, and products to this new AI-driven ecosystem while maintaining control and generating revenue.

  • On February 20, 2026, eBay's updated user agreement to restrict agentic commerce tools went into effect.
  • In October 2025, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone announced the company was 'poised to gradually bring agentic capabilities into the core of eBay's business through the main search experience over the coming quarters'.
  • In November 2025, Amazon sued Perplexity AI in federal court in San Francisco, seeking an injunction to stop the AI firm's agentic shopping tool, Comet, from accessing Amazon's retail store and customer data.

The players

eBay

A major e-commerce marketplace platform that has updated its user agreement to restrict agentic commerce tools without permission, in an effort to 'keep interactions predictable and safe' and 'protect buyers and sellers'.

Amazon

The largest e-commerce marketplace, which has sued Perplexity AI to stop its AI shopping assistant from accessing Amazon's platform, alleging violations of computer fraud and abuse laws.

Perplexity AI

An AI firm that has developed an agentic shopping tool called Comet, which Amazon is seeking to block from accessing its retail store and customer data.

Adam Behrens

The CEO of New Generation, a San Francisco-based software startup that builds agentic commerce tools for merchants.

Jeff Otto

The chief marketing officer of Riskified, a New York-based company that sells merchants software to manage fraud and chargebacks.

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What they’re saying

“You can look at what ChatGPT and Google are trying to do as kind of like opening the doors for an LLM to act as the marketplace where, if you just connect supply into that language model and then a consumer interacts with it, why do you ever need to go to Amazon?”

— Adam Behrens, CEO, New Generation (Payments Dive)

“You're kind of losing on both sides, your brand exposure, loyalty, all those things that create customer lifetime value – you lose all that when it's inside of a ChatGPT interface, and then second, you're taking on this risk.”

— Jeff Otto, Chief Marketing Officer, Riskified (Payments Dive)

What’s next

The judge in the case between Amazon and Perplexity AI will decide on Tuesday whether or not to grant Amazon's requested injunction to stop Perplexity's agentic shopping tool from accessing Amazon's platform.

The takeaway

The rise of agentic AI shopping bots poses a fundamental threat to the traditional e-commerce marketplace model, forcing platforms like Amazon and eBay to adapt and find ways to maintain control over their customer relationships, data, and brand value. Merchants must also navigate this new AI-driven ecosystem, balancing the potential benefits of exposure to these powerful shopping agents with the need to protect their own brands, data, and customer loyalty.