AI shopping chatbots from Amazon and Walmart often obscure "Made in USA" product information, a report from a policy center co-founded by former FTC Chair Lina Khan found. When prompted to find U.S.-made items, Amazon's Alexa for Shopping initially stated it lacked access to such data. However, a slight alteration in the query, asking for products "in the USA," revealed items explicitly labeled as made in the United States.

Similarly, Walmart's Sparky chatbot also struggled to reliably provide "Made in USA" information. The report, which tested 100 different product searches across both platforms, found that the chatbots frequently failed to prioritize or even acknowledge U.S. manufacturing claims. This behavior raises concerns about the transparency and effectiveness of these AI tools in informing consumers about product origin.

The research highlights a potential blind spot in how major e-commerce platforms are integrating AI, potentially disadvantaging American manufacturers. The findings suggest that the algorithms governing these chatbots may not be adequately trained or configured to surface this specific, consumer-relevant data.