Amazon Unveils Nova Act: A New AI Shopping Assistant

Amazon has announced a new artificial intelligence model called Nova Act, specifically created to assist with tasks such as online shopping directly from your web browser. Currently, Nova Act is in a research preview, meaning it is available exclusively to developers at this initial stage. However, Amazon plans to broaden access to its other Nova AI models through a dedicated web portal, simplifying the process for developers and users to discover these tools.

Nova Act operates similarly to OpenAI’s Operator agent. According to Amazon, this model can execute web searches, facilitate purchases, and respond to questions about visible content on the screen. Users can also instruct Act to perform tasks on a predetermined schedule. The model has the capability to follow more complex commands, such as excluding certain options during a purchase, like saying "don’t accept the insurance upsell." Despite being in the early access phase, Nova Act has already been integrated into the improved Alexa Plus assistant, where it performs various online tasks.

Nova Act represents the first offering from Amazon’s Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Labs. The team behind this initiative envisions a future where AI agents can effectively manage intricate, multi-step projects, such as organizing wedding plans or managing complex IT tasks, thereby enhancing overall productivity for businesses. Amazon and OpenAI are among a growing number of companies investing their efforts into developing AI agents, with the hope that consumers will appreciate AI assistants capable of performing tangible tasks beyond just answering queries or generating creative content.

Nava Act joins a suite of five AI models unveiled by Amazon in December 2024, which also includes three models focused on comprehension, as well as generative models for images and videos. Instead of striving to create the most powerful AI models available, Amazon has prioritized offering a suite that is efficient and cost-effective, boasting that Nova models are at least 75 percent less expensive than comparable alternatives on the market.

To enhance accessibility, Amazon is rolling out a new platform that allows developers and users in the United States to interact more directly with these AI models. This new website enables users to use the Nova models to answer questions or create content. Previously, these models were accessible only through Amazon Bedrock, a framework within Amazon Web Services offering access to Nova and third-party models from various providers, including Meta, DeepMind, and Anthropic. Rohit Prasad, the Senior Vice President of Amazon AGI, indicated that this site is designed to enable developers to quickly test out their ideas with Nova models and integrate them on a larger scale within Amazon Bedrock.

Amazon, AI, Shopping