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Google precocious unveiled Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a caller unfastened modular for agentic commerce that the hunt elephantine claims works crossed the full buying travel -- from find and buying to post-purchase support.
UCP establishes a communal connection for agents and systems to run unneurotic crossed user surfaces, businesses, and outgo providers to alteration commerce. So alternatively of requiring unsocial connections for each idiosyncratic agent, UCP enables each agents to interact easily. The protocol has backing from immoderate of the biggest American retailers and outgo players including Walmart, Target, Shopify and Etsy.Announced astatine the National Retail Federation league successful New York, Google pitched UCP arsenic a instauration for “agentic commerce,” a fast-emerging conception successful which AI agents assistance shoppers transportation retired multi-step tasks connected their behalf.
“AI agents volition beryllium a large portion of however we store successful the not-so-distant future,” wrote Google CEO Sundar Pichai connected X, formerly Twitter.
Amazon vs Perplexity implicit AI buying agents
Notably, determination was 1 e-commerce elephantine not included successful Google's announcement: Amazon. And incidentally, this AI-led buying is akin to what Amazon past twelvemonth sent a ineligible announcement to Perplexity over. And the 2 companies person been warring over. In November 2025, Amazon sued Perplexity implicit AI buying agents.
In a suit filed successful Northern California, Amazon sued Perplexity to halt its Comet AI agents from accessing Amazon’s e-commerce website successful what it alleges to beryllium a covert manner. The suit followed a cease and desist missive successful which Amazon alleged Perplexity is “disguising Comet arsenic a Google Chrome browser” and refusing to place Comet AI agents erstwhile operating successful the Amazon Store, making purchases connected behalf of users without authorization.In a blog station connected sending Cease and Desist announcement to Perplexity, Amazon wrote, "We deliberation it’s reasonably straightforward that third-party applications that connection to marque purchases connected behalf of customers from different businesses should run openly and respect work supplier decisions whether oregon not to participate. This helps guarantee a affirmative lawsuit acquisition and it is however others operate, including nutrient transportation apps and the restaurants they instrumentality orders for, transportation work apps and the stores they store from, and online question agencies and the airlines they publication tickets with for customers.
Agentic third-party applications specified arsenic Perplexity’s Comet person the aforesaid obligations, and we’ve repeatedly requested that Perplexity region Amazon from the Comet experience, peculiarly successful airy of the importantly degraded buying and lawsuit work acquisition it provides.”
Amazon connected third-party AI buying agents
Also what needs to beryllium noted present is that Amazon’s ineligible announcement to Perplexity is not being seen arsenic a afloat indictment against third-party agentic commerce, but moreso an illustration of however Amazon wants to enactment with outer agents connected its ain terms.
Amazon has been experimenting with its ain AI-powered buying features, including its Rufus adjunct and the “Buy for Me” inaugural since sometime now. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy acknowledged connected during the past net telephone that agentic commerce “has a accidental to beryllium truly bully for e-commerce” and said that helium expects the institution to spouse with third-party agents implicit time.
At the aforesaid time, Jessy said that agents “aren’t precise good” astatine personalization and often show incorrect pricing and transportation estimates. Jassy besides said that the institution is not against outer partnerships for Agentic Commerce. During the call, Jassy said, "We’re besides having conversations with and expect implicit clip to spouse with third-party agents.” “And today, hunt engines are a precise tiny portion of our referral traffic, and third-party agents are a precise tiny subset of that. But I bash deliberation that we volition find ways to partner. We person to find a way, though, that makes the lawsuit exp
