eBay CEO pushes AI tools for sellers while banning autonomous buying bots

eBay, led by CEO Jamie Iannone, is encouraging sellers to use its own AI listing feature while prohibiting third-party autonomous shopping agents on the platform.

During an interview at a Chicago trading-card event, eBay chief executive Jamie Iannone outlined a two-pronged AI approach: the firm offers a proprietary “magical” listing tool that extracts details from photos and guides sellers on description, pricing and shipping, while it has barred autonomous AI shopping agents from operating on its site. The announcement follows eBay’s $1.4 billion purchase of fashion-resale platform Depop and the settlement of a $50 million lawsuit linked to former CEO Devin Wenig.

Iannone emphasized a focus on “non-new-in-season” used and refurbished items, a niche that avoids direct competition with Amazon and Walmart. Quarterly results showed revenue climbing 15% to $3.1 billion and net income up 51% to $552 million, prompting an upward revision of full-year guidance. Over 15 million items have been authenticated with no counterfeit breaches reported, and the ban on third-party AI bots is intended to safeguard the marketplace’s human-focused model while leveraging AI to boost seller performance.