Why Amazon And Walmart's AI Shopping Agents Are Rigged Against ‘Made In USA'

A Columbia Law School study suggests that Amazon and Walmart intentionally suppress "Made in USA" product search results, favoring imported goods despite soaring consumer demand for American-made items. Researchers found their AI shopping agents, like Alexa and Sparky, frequently misidentify domestically produced goods and permit fraudulent country-of-origin claims. Crucially, the AI agents themselves admitted this behavior is a "business decision" to promote foreign suppliers, rather than a technical limitation. Over 80% of Americans prefer US-made products for economic and job benefits but face significant obstacles finding them online. The report calls for robust regulatory action, including potential executive accountability and a federal private right of action, arguing current enforcement against these retail giants is insufficient given the scale of the problem.

In a series of controlled experiments, researchers found that Amazon’s Alexa and Walmart’s Sparky shopping agents often misidentify “Made in America” product listings and allow suspicious country-of-origin claims to go unflagged. When the chatbots are queried about false product-origin claims, they respond that the behavior reflects a business decision, not a technical limitation. “This empirical study shows that Amazon and Walmart deploy this sophistication selectively, responding to customer searches for ‘Made in USA’ goods by hiding America-made products while mislabeling imported ones—a tactic that their own AI agents describe as a business choice to promote foreign suppliers,” stated Lina Khan, director of the Columbia Center and former chair of the Federal Trade Commission. The Center’s senior fellow Erie Meyer added that both retailers’ systems have the data needed to flag mislabeled products but are designed to obscure it. “They can report ‘Made in USA’ fraud on command,” she said. “Hiding it was a choice and it shows the dangers of unregulated agentic shopping.”

American consumers are sold on domestically produced products. In a November survey among 2,200 adults conducted by Morning Consult in association with the Alliance for American Manufacturing, over 80% said they prefer to buy America-made products over similar imported goods. They cite strengthening the U.S. economy (59%), creating American jobs (59%) and supporting small businesses (50%) as their primary reasons. And consumers’ preference for “Made in USA” is growing. Compared with last year, half of Americans said they are more likely to purchase products made domestically today. Yet when they try to find American-made goods—especially when shopping online—they run into obstacles, confirming the Columbia Center’s findings. Some 35% said it is difficult to identify a product's origin when shopping online, and 77% believe online retailers should be required to display country-of-origin labels, just as brick-and-mortar stores do. To find American-made goods, shoppers primarily rely on local independent retailers (39%) and social media (38%).