Amazon is working on a plan to build a comprehensive index of product data from across the internet, including items it does not sell, and surface that information through its own site, according to Reuters. The project is called the “World Product Graph.” The effort is intended to keep shoppers from leaving Amazon to research products on Reddit or Google, and to draw them to Amazon even when the item they want is sold elsewhere.
The same logic applies to AI agents, according to the report. If Amazon holds the largest collection of shopping data, AI agents may come to depend on its product index more than others, which would route even bot-assisted shopping through Amazon’s pages. Amazon already links to outside retailers’ products through a “shop direct” feature it launched last year. The company also offers an AI shopping assistant called Alexa for Shopping, previously known as Rufus.
The World Product Graph would also be aimed at improving that assistant by giving it more data. An internal Amazon document on the project says many Rufus answers are factually wrong or incomplete, according to Reuters, and that running users’ Amazon searches through the AI is expensive. The added data is reportedly meant to make the system more accurate and allow it to use cheaper models.
It remains uncertain whether the project will actually ship. The internal document reportedly states that the effort depends on discovering how brands organize their products on their own websites, which could involve Amazon crawling other retailers’ sites. Reuters reported that it is unclear if or when the plan may be implemented, but said the document included an October 1st, 2027 release date.
Amazon pushed back on the reporting in a statement to Reuters. The company said draft, outdated documents often paint an incomplete picture, and that the existence of a brainstorming document such as this one does not necessarily reflect its current plans. The reported plan comes as Amazon faces competition from search engines and social platforms for the attention of US shoppers researching purchases online.
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