Analysis ·
Instinct and Muse promised to access stores and buy for us. The problem is that stores are blocking them
Original title, in Spanish: “Instinct y Muse prometían acceder a las tiendas y comprar por nosotros. El problema es que las tiendas los están bloqueando”
- Publication
- Xataka (Spain)
- Author
- Rubén Andrés
- Published on
- 14 October 2026 · read in the page structured data
Summary
AI agents designed to make purchases on users' behalf, such as Meta's Muse and Instinct, are meeting refusal from many retailers. Amazon blocked Muse two weeks after its launch, citing a lack of transparency about its identification as an AI, and also blocks agents from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and Perplexity. Kohl's and eBay also ban such automated purchases. According to Billions Network, none of the 51 large US retailers studied offers an alternative route for a verified agent, and nearly three quarters block these agents with rules intended for other bots. The cause, according to the article, is the preservation of retailers' advertising model, which depends on human attention. Partnerships do exist, however, with Walmart, Best Buy, Sephora, Gap and Shopify. Morgan Stanley estimates that these agents could account for between $190 billion and $385 billion in transactions in 2030, or 10 to 20% of US online commerce.
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on Xataka →Figures cited
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79 %
Share of major US and UK media outlets blocking an AI training crawler
Major media outlets in the United States and United Kingdom
« El 79% de los grandes medios de EEUU y Reino Unido bloquea algún rastreador de IA de entrenamiento, recogía Press Gazette. »
Source: Press Gazette
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1,500 USD million
Amount paid by Anthropic to authors and publishers for downloading pirated copies
United States
« Anthropic, la empresa de Claude, acordó pagar 1.500 millones de dólares a autores y editoriales por descargar copias pirateadas. »
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68,000 USD million
Amazon's advertising revenue in 2025
Amazon, 2025
« Amazon ingresó más de 68.000 millones de dólares en publicidad en 2025. »
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51 companies
Number of large US retailers reviewed with no alternative purchasing route for a verified AI agent
Large US retailers, Billions Network study
« Billions Network revisó a 51 grandes minoristas de EEUU y ninguno de ellos ofrecía una vía alternativa para que un agente verificado pudiera completar una compra. »
Source: Billions Network
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75 %
Share of retailers blocking AI agents with rules designed for other bots
Retailers, Billions Network study
« Según la investigación de Billions Network, casi tres cuartas partes de los comercios bloquean a estos agentes de IA con reglas pensadas para otros bots. »
Source: Billions Network
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190,000 USD million
Amount AI agents could channel through commerce in 2030 (low estimate)
Online commerce, United States, 2030 projection, according to Morgan Stanley
« Morgan Stanley calcula que los agentes de IA podrían mover entre 190.000 y 385.000 millones de dólares en 2030. »
Source: Morgan Stanley
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385,000 USD million
Amount AI agents could channel through commerce in 2030 (high estimate)
Online commerce, United States, 2030 projection, according to Morgan Stanley
« Morgan Stanley calcula que los agentes de IA podrían mover entre 190.000 y 385.000 millones de dólares en 2030. »
Source: Morgan Stanley
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15 %
Share of US online commerce AI agents would account for in 2030
Online commerce, United States, 10–20% range, 2030 projection, according to Morgan Stanley
« Sería entre el 10% y el 20% del total del comercio online de EEUU. »
Source: Morgan Stanley
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1,000 USD million
Amount raised by Instinct
Instinct, funding round
« Instinct, por su parte, levantó 1.000 millones de dólares con una valoración de 10.000 millones, y actúa con su propio teléfono y ordenador. »
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10,000 USD million
Instinct's valuation
Instinct
« Instinct, por su parte, levantó 1.000 millones de dólares con una valoración de 10.000 millones, y actúa con su propio teléfono y ordenador. »
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2.5 million
Number of Muse downloads in the United States
Muse, United States
« Muse superó los 2,5 millones de descargas en EEUU. »
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76 %
Share of US adults uncomfortable with an AI buying on their behalf
US adults, NMI survey
« una encuesta de NMI revela que el 76% de los adultos de EEUU se incomoda si una IA compra por ellos. »
Source: NMI
Classification
- Country
- United States, United Kingdom
- Company size
- Large companies, All sizes
- Industries
- Retail and distribution, e-commerce · Software vendors, IT services companies, telecoms
- Companies
- Sephora (deploys AI), Billions Network (study author), Morgan Stanley (cited), Amazon (deploys AI), Best Buy (deploys AI), Meta (supplier), eBay (deploys AI), Perplexity (cited), Cloudflare (supplier), Instinct (supplier), Shopify (supplier), Walmart (deploys AI), Gap (deploys AI), NMI (study author), OpenAI (cited), Anthropic (cited), Google (cited), Kohl's (deploys AI)
- Keywords
- AI agents, e-commerce, automated purchases, bot blocking, online commerce, advertising model
Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to Xataka and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.