Yelp, Delta and banks restrict AI agents; Amazon objects to Meta's Muse

The Verge reports that AI agents, the software that promises to book dinners, clear inboxes and buy shoes on a user's behalf, are running into closed doors across the web. In recent weeks, users of Meta's Muse, xAI's Grok, OpenAI's Dots and Instinct have reported blocks that stop their agents from completing tasks on top websites.

Several companies have confirmed restrictions. Yelp told TechCrunch that it only allows AI agents that pay for its data licensing program. Delta Air Lines is preventing agents from booking tickets on behalf of users. JPMorgan Chase and Charles Schwab have confirmed that they block AI agents from accessing accounts, citing security concerns. Some users also say Cars.com and Amtrak, which used to work with their agent, are no longer accessible, which the article reads as a sign that other companies may be blocking agents quietly. That part is not confirmed.

Amazon is the loudest case. Last year it banned Perplexity's agentic shopping feature and sued the startup. Amazon said it had "repeatedly requested" that Perplexity stop letting its agents shop on the site, and that third-party companies buying on behalf of customers "should operate openly and respect service provider decisions whether or not to participate." Perplexity answered that Amazon does not want agents on its platform because fewer human eyeballs would see its ads, which the article calls an actual issue for the company. Perplexity also said Amazon "does not believe in your right to hire labor, to have an assistant or an employee acting on your behalf." A judge later ordered Perplexity to stop its agents from shopping on Amazon, but an appeals court overturned that ruling in August, and Amazon has since filed an amended complaint.

The fight did not stop OpenAI, Meta and Google from launching their own agents, and they face the same problems. Amazon most recently said that Muse's "continued access" violates its site policies. There are reports that Grok, Instinct's agent and OpenAI's Dots cannot use Amazon either. xAI owner Elon Musk replied that maybe he "should start a competitor to Amazon."

Chris Canal, the CEO of the AI safety evaluator EquiStamp, told The Verge that this affects how the industry's promises look: "Does this impact the perceived value of the Anthropics and the OpenAIs? I would say absolutely." He argued that agents are said to be going to permeate every aspect of our lives and do anything we can do online, and that if companies actively work against that, there are fewer useful things agents can do.

Meta answered the blocks in a post earlier this month: "Turning away a personal agent means turning away the customer behind it," and it would rather work with businesses on their underlying concerns. Instead of fighting Amazon, Meta has partnered with retailers including Walmart, Gap, Sephora and Best Buy so Muse can shop on their sites. Shopify has also opened its network of storefronts to AI agents.

Not every block is a deliberate ban. Anti-bot systems are now everywhere on the web, and agents may be tripping them. Reports on Reddit suggest Google is blocking some accounts that use Muse for "suspicious activity," and others report checkout problems on Walmart despite its Meta partnership. Canal said many safeguards exist to stop scammers and hackers, and "these AI agents trigger those same safeguards." Cloudflare has also helped sites push back on unwanted AI visitors: after launching a one-click block for AI crawlers in 2025, it began blocking crawlers that scrape sites for both search indexing and AI training. The article frames this as part of an effort to protect the web from an influx of AI bots that strains infrastructure and could make it harder to compete with bots for concert tickets, reservations and scarce products. Canal expects such blocks to make the web more "annoying" as more sites add checks that you are not a robot, possibly even on a simple grocery shopping site.

The Verge asked OpenAI and Google for comment and had not heard back at the time of writing. Instinct declined to comment.

Key facts

Users of Meta's Muse, xAI's Grok, OpenAI's Dots and Instinct report that their agents are blocked on top websites in recent weeks.
Yelp told TechCrunch it only allows agents that pay for its data licensing program; Delta is preventing agents from booking tickets; JPMorgan Chase and Charles Schwab confirm they block agents from accessing accounts over security concerns.
Amazon says Muse's "continued access" violates its site policies, after banning and suing Perplexity last year; an appeals court overturned an order against Perplexity in August and Amazon has filed an amended complaint.
Meta is partnering with retailers including Walmart, Gap, Sephora and Best Buy, and Shopify has opened its storefront network to agents.
Some blocks may be ordinary anti-bot systems catching agents rather than deliberate bans, according to the article and EquiStamp CEO Chris Canal.

Why it matters

Agents are sold on the promise that they can do anything a person can do online. If major sites refuse them, that promise shrinks. Chris Canal of EquiStamp says it plainly: if companies are actively working against it, there are fewer useful things agents can do, and he says this affects the perceived value of firms like Anthropic and OpenAI. The Amazon and Perplexity dispute from last year shows the argument is also legal: Amazon says service providers decide whether to participate, while Perplexity likens its agent to an assistant acting on the user's behalf.

Who it affects

Users of agents such as Muse, Grok, Dots and Instinct, whose tasks fail on blocked sites. The makers of those agents, including Meta, xAI and OpenAI. Sites and services that restrict agents: Yelp, Delta, JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab and Amazon. Retailers that partner with Meta (Walmart, Gap, Sephora, Best Buy) and Shopify storefronts that have opened up to agents. More broadly, anyone who browses the web and may meet more human-verification checks.

How to use it

This is a trend report, not a product. For people who rely on an agent, the article's practical picture is uneven. Sites that have struck deals, such as Meta's retail partners and Shopify's network, are where agents are explicitly allowed to shop, though some users still report checkout problems on Walmart. Yelp lets in only agents that pay for its data licensing program. Airline bookings at Delta and account access at JPMorgan Chase and Charles Schwab are blocked for agents.

How solid is it

Parts are firm and parts are not. Yelp's policy comes via TechCrunch, and Delta's block and the two banks' confirmations are stated by the article, without direct quotes from those companies. Amazon's objection to Muse is reported as its statement. The claims about Cars.com and Amtrak rest on user reports and the article's inference, and the Google blocking of Muse accounts rests on Reddit reports. Reports that Grok, Dots and Instinct cannot use Amazon are also only reports. The article gives no counts of blocked sites or users. OpenAI and Google had not replied to The Verge, and Instinct declined to comment.

Risks and caveats

Not every failure is a ban. The article notes that agents may be colliding with anti-bot systems that are ubiquitous, and Canal says these tools exist to block scammers and hackers and agents trigger the same safeguards. Cloudflare's crawler blocking adds to the pressure. Canal expects the countermeasures to make the web more "annoying" for everyone, with human-proof hoops on even simple grocery sites. Legal questions remain open: the Amazon v. Perplexity ruling was overturned on appeal in August, and Amazon has filed an amended complaint.

“Turning away a personal agent means turning away the customer behind it”

— Meta, in a post earlier this month, as quoted by The Verge