Senators Push FTC to Probe Amazon, Walmart's AI Shopping Tools Over 'Made in USA' Claims
A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators is urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate AI-powered shopping assistants from Amazon and Walmart, citing concerns that these tools may steer consumers away from American-made goods.
Senators Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott sent a letter to the FTC on Thursday, arguing that Amazon's Alexa for Shopping and Walmart's Sparky AI could undermine federal efforts to boost domestic manufacturing by providing misleading information about product origins.
The senators relied heavily on research from a think tank led by former FTC Chair Lina Khan, which found that the two chatbots handled origin information unevenly. While they provided details on goods produced in countries like China, they offered less information on U.S.-made alternatives.
In one exchange cited in the letter, researchers asked Alexa why it lacked a 'Made in USA' filter. The chatbot responded that adding such a feature would 'redirect significant sales away from their largest seller base,' referring to overseas manufacturers.
The senators argued that this failure harms American factories and small businesses that manufacture products domestically. Amazon pushed back against the allegations, stating that the suggestion it intentionally withholds country-of-origin information is 'fundamentally wrong.'