E-commerce

Amazon debuts AI audio summaries for select products

Ken Metral

21 May 2025 — 2 min read

Credit: Amazon.com, Inc.

Amazon is introducing a new way for shoppers to absorb product information — through their ears. On Wednesday, the company announced the launch of short-form, AI-generated audio summaries on select product pages in the Amazon Shopping app. This experimental feature aims to make product research quicker, more accessible, and even a bit more entertaining.

“Hear the Highlights”: Shopping With Your Ears

Available to some U.S. customers, the new feature lets users tap a “Hear the highlights” button to listen to a brief, conversational-style summary of a product. Voiced by what Amazon calls “AI-powered shopping experts,” these summaries highlight key product features, customer reviews, and curated information from across the web.

According to Amazon, the tool is designed for “consideration-heavy” products — items where shoppers typically do more research before making a decision. Think gadgets, home appliances, or tech accessories.

Making Product Research Conversational

“The feature makes product research fun and convenient — it’s like having helpful friends discuss potential purchases to make your shopping easier, even if you’re multitasking or on the go,” Amazon noted in a blog post.

The summaries are powered by large language models (LLMs) that generate the scripts by analyzing customer reviews and web content. These scripts are then converted into short audio clips meant to simulate natural conversation — a friendly voice guiding users through the pros and cons of a product.

Part of a Larger AI Push

This new feature builds on Amazon’s growing suite of AI-driven shopping tools, which already includes:

Rufus: A generative AI shopping assistant
Interests: An AI-powered product tracker that surfaces items based on personal preferences

Amazon says it plans to expand the availability of audio summaries to more products and users in the U.S. over the coming months.

Industry Trend: AI Meets Audio

Amazon isn’t alone in experimenting with AI-powered audio experiences. Google’s NotebookLM introduced Audio Overviews last year, enabling users to create podcast-style summaries of documents and readings. The trend points to a broader push across tech to make information more accessible via audio, particularly for users who are multitasking or prefer listening over reading.

As competition intensifies in the AI-enhanced shopping space, Amazon’s move to make product research both smarter and more convenient signals its commitment to staying ahead — and making e-commerce a little more human in the process.

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