Banks and shops stop AI agents such as Meta Muse

Banks and shops, such as JPMorgan Chase, stop AI agents that do tasks for customers. These agents find savings rates and deals, and cancel subscriptions. Billions Network, a firm that checks identity, did an audit of 51 large retailers in the United States. It found that 37 stop agents by accident, and only 11 have a clear position.

How the stops work

A rule can name one bot, as Chewy does with a bot of Amazon. A rule can also stop all bots of other firms on login and checkout pages. Amazon says that apps must follow the decision of a business.

The numbers

Only 11 of the 51 retailers have a clear position on agents. 37 stop agents by accident, through rules that were written for scrapers, which are tools that copy pages. The audit says that a rule does not show that a stop is in use.

What the other side says

Visa says that agents cause a fraud risk. It gives the example of an agent that removed the booking of a different person. Danford, an adviser to sellers, says that the point is who holds the data, not the agent.

Insight: The stops are a race for the gate

Amazon stops agents of other firms, but its tool Buy for Me uses an agent of Amazon on sites of other firms, says an adviser to sellers. Walmart opens its site and works with other firms on an open standard for how agents speak to businesses. This reads as a race for the gate: the first standard that firms use can set the rules and the toll. Retailers with no position let other firms select.