Why Marketplaces Block AI Shopping Agents

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Microsoft Researchers Champion 'Open Agentic Economy' for AI Shopping

Microsoft researchers published a paper advocating for an "open agentic economy," a decentralized "web of agents" where AI assistants can freely interact and negotiate with service agents on behalf of users. This strategic vision aims to prevent the formation of "walled gardens" by major platforms, promoting competition and shifting the market from an "attention economy" to a "preference economy." The researchers contend that an open market, governed by standardized protocols, is the most beneficial path for maximizing opportunity for both businesses and individuals.

Salesforce Agentforce 360 Goes GA, Signals Shift in Platform Certification

Salesforce announced the general availability of Agentforce 360, bringing new agentic commerce features and a fundamental shift in how administrators interact with the platform via a new Setup beta. The platform's maturity is further signaled by updates to the Certified Platform Administrator exam, which now formally includes 'Agentforce AI' and a new section on Multi-Agent Interoperability covering the Model Context Protocol and Agent API. This emphasizes the growing importance of agentic skills and connected AI ecosystems within the enterprise.

Teleport Debuts Agentic Identity Framework to Secure Autonomous Systems

Teleport announced its Agentic Identity Framework, a new security standard designed specifically for non-deterministic AI agents. By establishing a cryptographic identity layer with a hardware root of trust, the framework addresses identity fragmentation and secrets sprawl, enabling zero-trust authentication for agents operating at scale.

Why Marketplaces Block AI Shopping Agents

E-commerce platforms like Amazon and eBay are tightening controls on autonomous AI shopping agents, arguing these bots violate terms and create security or UX issues — but the core fight is about control over discovery, transactions, ads, and shopper data. Autonomous agents built into AI-first browsers like Perplexity’s Comet or OpenAI’s Atlas can now search, compare, and initiate purchases with minimal human clicks, threatening marketplace advertising revenue and behavioral tracking systems that fuel recommendations and personalization. Amazon’s lawsuit against Perplexity and eBay’s updated terms banning “buy-for-me” agents reflect broader pushback, even as agent developers argue agents should be treated like browsers or accessibility tools, potentially leading to negotiated API-based access or formal partnerships.

Mastercard Launches "Agent Suite" to Accelerate Enterprise Agentic Commerce

Mastercard has introduced the Agent Suite, a comprehensive platform providing customizable AI agents and technical infrastructure for banks and merchants. The suite includes "Agent Pay" for secure autonomous transactions and an "Agent Toolkit" for developers, supporting the integration of agentic AI into daily enterprise operations.

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