Amazon has taken a big step into the world of AI agents with the launch of Nova Act, a powerful tool designed to control web browsers and perform simple tasks on its own. Think of it as a digital assistant that doesn’t just respond to commands but actually takes action—filling out forms, making reservations, and navigating websites on your behalf.
What is Nova Act?
Nova Act is Amazon’s latest innovation from its San Francisco-based AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) lab. Unlike traditional AI chatbots that only provide answers, Nova Act can directly interact with websites, handling basic tasks like scheduling appointments or placing online orders.
To support developers, Amazon is also launching the Nova Act SDK, a software toolkit that makes it easier to build AI-powered agent applications. Developers can access the toolkit and other Nova-related technologies at nova.amazon.com.
Why Does Nova Act Matter?
Amazon isn’t the first to explore AI-driven web navigation—companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have already developed similar technology. However, Nova Act could have a huge advantage thanks to its integration with Alexa+. This upgraded version of Alexa, powered by generative AI, could put Nova Act in millions of homes, making it one of the most widely used AI agents.
Amazon envisions Nova Act helping users with tasks like:
✅ Ordering food from restaurants like Sweetgreen
✅ Making reservations at a favorite spot
✅ Filling out online forms or selecting calendar dates
By automating these everyday tasks, Nova Act aims to make AI assistants much more practical and useful for consumers.
How Does Nova Act Compare to Competitors?
Amazon claims that Nova Act outperforms OpenAI and Anthropic’s AI agents on internal benchmarks. For example, in ScreenSpot Web Text, a test measuring how well AI interacts with on-screen text, Nova Act scored 94%, ahead of OpenAI’s 88% and Anthropic’s 90%.
However, Amazon has yet to test Nova Act against broader industry standards like WebVoyager, leaving some questions about its overall performance.
The People Behind Nova Act
Nova Act is the first major release from Amazon’s AGI lab, led by David Luan and Pieter Abbeel, both former OpenAI researchers. Luan previously founded the AI startup Adept, while Abbeel co-founded Covariant. Their vision? To create AI that can do anything a human does on a computer.
Luan believes AI agents are an essential step toward superintelligent AI, but for now, the focus is on building reliable tools that automate simple, well-defined tasks.
Will Nova Act Deliver on Its Promise?
The AI agent space is crowded, and past attempts from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic have struggled with speed, consistency, and reliability. Many AI agents make frustrating errors or take too long to complete tasks.
Amazon’s Nova Act has the potential to be a game-changer—especially if it can successfully power Alexa+, which could redefine how people interact with AI in their daily lives.
But will it live up to expectations? That remains to be seen. Early tests will be crucial in determining whether Nova Act is the future of AI-powered automation or just another experiment in the crowded AI space.
Amazon Introduces Nova Act: A New AI Agent That Can Navigate the Web for You
