Amazon Unveils Nova Act: A Powerful AI Agent That Can Browse the Web for You
Amazon's latest AI innovation, Nova Act, automates web navigation, making online tasks smarter and more efficient.
Amazon has unveiled Nova Act, an advanced AI agent capable of autonomously navigating web browsers to perform tasks on behalf of users. Currently available as a "research preview" for developers, Nova Act can conduct web searches, make purchases, respond to on-screen queries, and execute scheduled tasks.
It also understands detailed instructions, such as "don't accept the insurance upsell" during a purchase. This development positions Amazon to compete with similar offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic.
Nova Act is the inaugural product from Amazon's Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Lab in San Francisco, led by former OpenAI researchers David Luan and Pieter Abbeel. The lab aims to create AI systems capable of performing complex, multi-step tasks, such as organizing events or managing intricate IT operations, thereby enhancing business productivity.
Developers can access Nova Act through a new website, nova.amazon.com, which also showcases Amazon's suite of Nova foundation models. These models, introduced in December 2024, include text-only and multimodal variants designed for tasks ranging from content generation to complex reasoning.
Amazon emphasizes that these models are at least 75% less expensive than comparable alternatives, offering a cost-effective solution for AI integration. In addition to Nova Act, Amazon has launched a software development kit (SDK) to facilitate the creation of AI agents capable of automating tasks within web browsers.
This toolkit enables developers to build agents that can navigate web pages, fill out forms, and interact with various interface elements, addressing challenges that often hinder other AI systems.
This strategic move underscores Amazon's commitment to advancing AI capabilities and integrating them into practical applications, potentially transforming how users interact with online services.