Most Big Retailers Block AI Agents Without Meaning to, Audit Finds, as Banks and Stores Dig In
A CNBC report finds only five of 51 large US retailers explicitly restrict AI agents like Meta's Muse, while 37 block them by accident through old anti-scraper rules, and none offers a verified route for an agent to complete a purchase.
By Icarus5 min read
Most large American retailers block AI agents like Meta’s Muse largely by accident, through older rules written to stop scrapers, while a handful of big names in banking and retail have moved to shut agents out, according to a CNBC report published November 1.
The report, by Kevin Williams, names JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, Amazon, Neiman Marcus, and Kohl’s as companies that have moved to block personal agents like Muse just as consumers are starting to send them out to find better savings rates, shop for deals, and cancel subscriptions. Beyond any single block, the audit behind the report shows the overall picture: an audit of 51 large US retailers’ published access rules by Billions Network, an identity-verification company, found only 11 had taken an explicit position on AI agents at all.
Five of the 51 explicitly restrict agents, according to the audit, and CNBC names three of them, Amazon, Kohl’s, and Neiman Marcus, but does not name the other two in the passages reviewed. Thirty-seven blocked shopping agents largely by accident, through older bot rules aimed at scrapers and automated traffic rather than through an explicit AI-agent policy. None of the 51 had a verified route for an agent to complete a purchase. CNBC does not break down the remaining retailers beyond those categories, and it cautions that the audit reads published rules, not proof of technical enforcement: a site can appear to block agents because of general anti-scraper rules even if it has no explicit AI-agent policy, and a published restriction does not by itself prove how completely agents are blocked in practice.
The Explicit Blockers
CNBC reports that JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has said the bank currently blocks external AI agents from operating on behalf of retail customers, citing security risks, and notes that JPMorgan declined to comment for the November 1 article. The bank also now charges aggregators such as Plaid for pulling account data, a cost CNBC notes could fall on the consumer apps people use and, eventually, on subscription fees. JPMorgan drew its line in October, when Dimon told analysts on the bank’s third-quarter earnings call that it would not let just any outside agent operate inside its systems.
The report also names Schwab as having made a similar move, though the November 1 article gives no separate Schwab policy or statement. Schwab’s own line came in October, when chief executive Rick Wurster told Bloomberg TV the firm blocks major outside agents from moving client money while still allowing balance checks through its own authenticated channels.
The report documents Amazon’s position in the most detail. The company explicitly blocks bots from its marketplace under its published rules, allowing only approved parties to use its APIs and barring others from using technology to scrape information or place orders automatically. An Amazon spokesperson pointed CNBC to those published rules rather than offering a new agent-specific policy. CNBC notes the tension in that stance: Amazon runs its own shopping assistant, Rufus, and allowing its own agent while blocking others could raise the kind of platform questions asked about browsers and app stores. Amazon blocked Muse from its store in September, and weeks later its chief executive told investors outside shopping agents were not yet good enough to worry about.
Why blocking may not hold
The report’s argument, carried by its expert sources, is that outright resistance may backfire. Michael Abbott, Accenture’s global banking lead, told CNBC that banks and retailers that try to block agents risk losing customers who want agent-assisted shopping and banking, and risk letting rivals or platforms set the terms instead. Blocking, on that view, is a short-term defensive move that is hard to sustain once agents become a normal way people shop and bank.
Evin McMullen, co-founder and chief executive of Billions Network, made the practical version of the same point: most retailers have not published a clear agent policy at all, and what companies need is a verification method so legitimate agents can be identified, rather than blanket bot blocks that catch agents and scrapers alike.
Walmart is CNBC’s counter-example. Instead of blocking, Walmart has worked with OpenAI and others on agent shopping and supports agent checkouts through approved routes, treating agents as a way to reach customers instead of a threat to the customer relationship. The contrast shows the split comes down to choice: approved integrations on one side, independent agents locked out on the other.
The report lands against a sharper political backdrop. CNBC notes reports in the prior week of AI agents acting badly in customer accounts, and calls by Senators Mark Warner and Bernie Sanders for bot legislation in response. The article describes no legislation as pending, and the report does not resolve whether blocking will hold or what rules, if any, will follow.
What it means for Muse users
Muse users now face a two-tiered situation. At the companies that have taken an explicit position, the agent’s reach stops at the front door: it may be able to look, through an approved connector, but it cannot act. Everywhere else, the barrier is often incidental, a legacy bot rule rather than a decision about agents, which means access could change without any announcement, in either direction, as companies write explicit agent policies.
With no verified agent-purchase route at any of the 51 retailers audited, agent shopping still runs on workarounds and approved partnerships rather than on a standard any store can adopt. Until banks and retailers agree on how to identify and authorize an agent acting for a customer, the default answer for Muse, and for every agent like it, will keep depending on which company’s door it knocks on.
Source reporting: CNBC.
