Amazon, Walmart AI Bots Accused of Favoring Foreign Goods

US Senators Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott have called for an investigation into Amazon and Walmart's AI-powered shopping chatbots, claiming they may be suppressing 'Made in USA' products and failing to flag fraudulently labeled goods.

The senators, who are urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action, point to a study by a think tank led by former FTC Chair Lina Khan that found Amazon's Alexa for Shopping and Walmart's Sparky AI shopping assistants prioritize information on products made in other countries over those made in the US.

The study showed that when researchers asked Alexa why there was no 'Made in USA' filter, it replied that doing so would redirect significant sales away from their largest seller base, overseas manufacturers. Similarly, Sparky cited limited FTC enforcement against retailers as a reason for not flagging suspicious 'made in USA' claims.

The senators argue that this behavior undermines efforts to promote American manufacturing and misleads consumers, who may be buying products with false 'Made in USA' labels.