Shopify has quietly set boundaries for 'buy-for-me' AI bots on merchant sites
Briefly

Shopify has introduced new language in its robots.txt files across merchant websites to prohibit agentic AI systems from autonomously completing tasks. The updated message forbids automated scraping and any 'buy-for-me' agents that complete transactions without human oversight. Major retailers like Amazon and Walmart are adopting agentic AI, contrasting Shopify's stance. Although Shopify is involved in AI partnerships and piloting new shopping features, the updated guidelines indicate a desire for tighter control over automated agents within its ecosystem.
Shopify is drawing a line in the sand on agentic AI - a type of bot that autonomously completes tasks on its own, without human inputs - with new language across merchant websites that appears aimed at blocking agentic AI systems.
The new line states: 'Automated scraping, 'buy-for-me' agents, or any end-to-end flow that completes payment without a final review step is not permitted.'
Shopify has made several moves in the AI space, including partnering with startups like Perplexity and reportedly piloting a shopping feature with OpenAI.
Shopify is trying to be upfront, saying, 'We think you're going to be doing this, trying to build automated checkout on top of our merchants, but we don't want you to do this.'
Read at Digiday
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