Amazon Shopping app adds an AI tool for designing custom merch

In short: Amazon has added a new feature in its Shopping app that lets people use Alexa to create AI-made designs and order them on custom merchandise.

What happened

Amazon announced a new tool in the Amazon Shopping app that helps customers design merchandise by describing what they want in plain words. AI, short for artificial intelligence, is software that can generate images or text based on your instructions (like a fast sketch artist that follows your prompts).

The feature works through “Alexa for Shopping.” Users can tap the Alexa icon in the app or search for “customize” to start. They describe an idea, the app generates a design, and users can make changes by choosing suggested edits or typing what they want adjusted.

After the design is ready, Amazon prints it using its Merch on Demand service, which is a print-on-demand setup (meaning the item is made only after you order it). Amazon said it will produce and ship the items through Prime shipping.

Amazon says the tool is free to use, and customers only pay for the products they order. The option is currently available only in the U.S. Supported items include several types of shirts and hoodies, plus tumblers and water bottles.

Why it matters

This puts custom, AI-generated merchandise inside a shopping app many people already use. It can make it easier to create one-off items, like a family reunion shirt or a personalized gift, even if you do not know how to use design software. It also increases competition for existing custom merch websites, and it may raise more questions about how AI image tools are trained and whose artwork influenced them.

Source: TechCrunch AI