Amazon and Walmart’s AI shopping assistants are capable of detecting false “Made in USA” product labels on their platforms but are not using that capability to flag or remove the listings, according to a study published Thursday by Columbia Law School’s Center for Law and the Economy.
The researchers focused on Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping and Walmart’s Sparky chatbot, concluding that both are able to detect when a ‘Made in USA’ claim in a product title or listing conflicts with country-of-origin details found elsewhere in that same listing. Researchers also found that “Made in USA” fraud appears to be common on both platforms.
Asked to explain why their parent companies had not acted on the false labeling, both chatbots pointed to business rationale rather than any technical barrier, the study found. On the question of why false “Made in USA” claims continue to appear on its platform, Amazon’s Alexa told researchers: “the harm to U.S.-made brands is real and documented, but until that harm creates a financial, regulatory, or reputational cost for Amazon specifically, it remains easier to do nothing.”
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