Amazon has unveiled a new artificial intelligence model called Nova Act, tailored to assist users with online shopping and other tasks directly in their browsers. Currently accessible only to developers during a research preview phase, Amazon is also increasing availability for its other Nova AI models via a dedicated web portal for easier access and utilization.
Nova Act resembles OpenAI’s Operator agent in its functionalities, enabling web searches, facilitating purchases, and responding to queries regarding on-screen content. Notably, it includes capabilities to execute tasks on a predetermined schedule and interpret complex commands, such as declining insurance upsells during transactions. Although restricted to developers, implementations of Act are being integrated into the enhanced Alexa Plus assistant.
Nova Act marks the inaugural release from Amazon’s Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Labs, which has articulated a vision for agents capable of managing intricate, multi-step tasks, such as planning weddings or improving business productivity through sophisticated IT solutions. Amazon is among several companies competing to develop AI agents with the potential to perform substantive tasks, appealing to consumers seeking more than mere question-answering or creative art generation.
Nova Act complements five other Nova models that were introduced in December 2024, which feature a series of understanding models along with image and video generators. Rather than positioning itself as a provider of the most powerful AI, Amazon focuses on delivering rapid and cost-effective solutions through the Nova suite, claiming it is “at least 75 percent less expensive” than competing options.
To facilitate developer access, Amazon is launching a new website that permits users in the US to interact with the models directly for query responses and content generation. Previously, these models were accessible solely through Amazon Bedrock, the AI model platform within Amazon Web Services, which included both Nova and models from third-party developers like DeepSeek, Anthropic, and Meta. Rohit Prasad, SVP of Amazon AGI, indicated that the new site is designed to allow developers to “quickly test their ideas with Nova models, and then implement them at scale in Amazon Bedrock.”
