Amazon’s New AI Rules Raise Questions About Fair Use—for All

This week, Amazon quietly cut off access to Google’s AI shopping agent, known as Project Mariner and ChatGPT. It also pulled hundreds of millions of dollars in shopping ads from Google overnight. The timing wasn’t random.

Instead of allowing AI to serve consumers by surfacing lower prices or suggesting alternatives, Amazon is locking down its data—Because in a closed ecosystem, less visibility often means more pricing power for the platform—not the user.

And this is just the beginning of a broader trend shaping the future of online shopping. We are witnessing the early stages of a shift where platforms no longer compete on user experience, but on algorithmic control and selective visibility. In the AI-powered economy, whoever controls the interface controls the outcome.

Amazon quietly cut off access to Google’s AI shopping agent, known as Project Mariner and ChatGPT

🕳️ Information Asymmetry Is the New Normal

Amazon didn’t block Google’s AI because it was inaccurate. It blocked it because it was effective. It lets users see products and prices across platforms.

But transparency undermines the logic of a closed ecosystem—one where control matters more than competition. In this new era, the less you see, the easier it is to charge you more. Quietly. Individually. Automatically.

Is it personalization? Or is it personalized opacity.

Information Asymmetry Is the New Normal

🧠 Algorithms Decide What You Pay—But Don’t Tell You Why

AI-powered dynamic pricing now decides what you pay based on your behavior, device, zip code, and more.

But you don’t know why.

You don’t know what others are seeing.

And you have no way to challenge it.

This is pricing without visibility, algorithms without accountability. This is the definition of a black box economy: one where your data determines your cost, but you’re not allowed to understand the math. You are being classified—but never notified.

🧠 Algorithms Decide What You Pay—But Don’t Tell You Why

🧱 Platforms Want Accountability—Or They Want Control?

By restricting Google’s AI from accessing product listings, Amazon is not just limiting a competitor—it’s also highlighting how control over information is becoming a key competitive advantage.

Currently, there are few consumer protections to address this shift. There are no clear regulations mandating algorithmic transparency, no standardized guarantees of price fairness, and no mechanisms for consumers to understand how prices may vary between users.

Platforms Don’t Want Accountability—They Want Control

🛑 Task Monkey is here to defend consumer interests.

This isn’t just a platform dispute—it reflects a deeper question about the role of AI in our daily lives: Will it serve people, or will it be used to obscure, extract, and control?

If this becomes the norm, we’re headed for an internet where:

• Every person sees a different price

• Nobody knows what’s real

• And the only ones winning are the algorithms

At Task Monkey, we believe in a different path—one where AI increases transparency, not hides it. One where technology helps users make better decisions, instead of quietly optimizing against them.

That’s why we’re not only building tools to protect everyday shoppers' interests—we’re also closely tracking industry changes and advocating for smarter, more open AI systems.

The rules of digital commerce are being rewritten. We believe consumers should have a voice in that process.

And we’re here to help make sure they do.