Amazon’s AI shopping assistant launches for all users in the US

Amazon’s AI shopping assistant Rufus is released to all users in the US on the Amazon mobile app. You can access the shopping assistant by tapping the orange and blue icon in the right corner of the app’s navigation bar, where Rufus can answer questions, compare items, and provide updates on your order.

Amazon first introduced Rufus in February, but only made it available to a small group of users. Rufus uses Amazon product listing details, reviews, and community Q&As, along with some information from the web, to inform his answers.

You can ask the tool things directly related to a product, like “Is this coffee maker easy to clean and maintain?” as well as recommendations on the best outdoor speaker or even more general questions about products you might need for a summer party. You can also ask Rufus for the status of a recent order.

After updating my Amazon app, I tried Rufus for myself. I navigated to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 I had my eye on and discovered that Rufus automatically raises a few questions, like “How long does the battery last on a single charge?” Although it presented the answer (40 hours), it didn’t mention that this is only true with the always-on screen turned off (otherwise it’s about 30 hours).

I also found that you can use it to answer completely non-shopping related questions, like the US elections. When asking about the candidates’ top issues, Rufus directed me to Amazon search results that contained books on abortion rights and gun control. He also provided me with detailed information about President Joe Biden’s stance on gun control when asked, while also linking me to Amazon search results containing gun safety locks and biometric gun safes.

This is a little worrying for a chatbot that has just been made available to everyone. However, it is still in beta, so protections on certain topics, such as the election, may not be fully refined yet.