Document Type

Report

Publication Date

7-2026

Abstract

This article investigates the capabilities of two AI shopping agents — Alexa for Shopping and Sparky, operated by Amazon and Walmart respectively — to identify country of origin for products on their respective platforms and flag potential “Made in USA” misrepresentations — where products with “Made in USA” in their title or listing have another country or “imported” listed as their country of origin. This article finds that (1) Amazon and Walmart have the technical capability to detect and flag “Made in USA” fraud; (2) “Made in USA” fraud appears to be common on both Amazon and Walmart; (3) Amazon blocks answers to questions about “Made in USA” products while allowing equivalent questions about products that were “Made in China” — and Amazon’s own AI shopping chatbot describes the discrepancy as reflecting a choice the company has made to protect its overseas seller base; (4) Both shopping chatbots describe inaction as a business decision, not a technical limitation; and (5) Amazon and Walmart have reneged on specific public commitments to document and disclose how their AI tools work. This article contextualizes the practices of Amazon and Walmart with the history of agentic commerce shopping and enforcement of “Made in USA” labelling rules, and argues that absent government intervention, agentic shopping tools can be and are used to route settled consumer protection laws. This article concludes with recommendations for law enforcement, policymakers, and the public, as well as future research questions.

Disciplines

Consumer Protection Law | Law | Science and Technology Policy

Additional Files
Made in America, Hidden by AI Press Release.pdf (212 kB)
Press Release - Made in America, Hidden by AI
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