AI shopping assistants for Amazon and Walmart have the capability to detect when products describe themselves as “Made in USA” but do not highlight when they have been made elsewhere, according to a new study.

An article produced by new thinktank the Columbia Law School Center for Law and the Economy has found that Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping and Walmart’s Sparky shopping assistants are capable of detecting these mismatches when prompted.

However, false Made in USA claims, illegal under Federal Trade Commission (FTC) legislation, remain “common” on both sites. The paper argues that this raises questions about the incentives behind these AI-powered assistants, which May data from Adobe Analytics found to increase customer spending.

When Sparky was asked why Walmart did not attempt to force sellers on its site to comply with the legal standard, it told researchers that the enforcement risk for retailers had historically been low, as the FTC prefers to pursue action against manufacturers. “That's a business calculation, not a legal justification,” Walmart's chatbot added, according to the study.

Amazon’s Alexa bot went further, saying that “until that harm [to US manufacturers] creates a financial, regulatory, or reputational cost for Amazon specifically, it remains easier to do nothing than to restructure their marketplace in ways that could reduce short-term revenue”.

FTC regulations require products advertised as “Made in USA” without any qualifiers must be “all or virtually all” produced in the country. The thinktank publishing the paper was established in April and is chaired by former FTC head Lina Khan, who brought a lawsuit against Amazon during her time in office for “illegally maintaining monopoly power”.

A spokesperson for Amazon said: “We strive to provide customers with detailed information about products in our store, including where they are made when that information is provided to us by manufacturers or third-party sellers. The suggestion that we intentionally withhold country-of-origin information from customers is incorrect.

"Country-of-origin information, when available, is currently displayed on product detail pages, and we’re continually working to improve Alexa for Shopping’s ability to accurately provide this information to make it even more accessible for customers.”

Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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