Move over Alexa – Amazon launches AI shopping helper called Rufus and there’s a secret meaning behind the name [Video]

AMAZON has introduced an AI-powered shopping assistant its site called Rufus.

The chatbot is designed to help people find products faster with broad research questions.

Rufus has been around in the US since February but it’s only just landed in the UK.

Of course, people will be well aware of Amazon’s principle assistant, Alexa – which isn’t going anywhere.

Rufus is being soft-launched to a subset of customers in Amazon’s mobile app.

The tool has been trained on Amazon’s product catalogue and information from across the web, allowing it to answer any shopping queries users have.

For example, you could ask, “What do I need for making smoothies?” or request comparisons between different types of products – and even specific questions about individual items.

Rufus will appear as an icon in the bottom corner of the screen …