Amazon is developing World Product Graph to gather product data and keep shoppers on its site, according to a draft plan. The project could also improve Rufus, the company’s AI shopping assistant that Amazon renamed Alexa for Shopping in May.

The draft plan combines data from brands with information crawled from retailers’ websites. Amazon said the document does not necessarily reflect its current plans, and it was unclear when or whether the company will implement it.

People familiar with the matter said the project could help Amazon counter rival AI shopping agents. Meta said its Muse agent can act on behalf of users, including for commerce tasks.

Amazon sued Perplexity, a US-based AI search startup, alleging it used retail content without authorization to power a shopping agent. The case is ongoing.

Broader crawling could trigger disputes over website terms, access controls, or, in some jurisdictions, database rights.

Industry analyses warn that AI agents could steer traffic and purchases away from retailers’ own sites.

🔗 Source: Reuters