Amazon has announced an expansion of its generative AI capabilities with the introduction of nova.amazon.com, a platform designed to give developers easier access to its foundation models. This includes the newly unveiled Amazon Nova Act, an AI model specifically trained to execute actions within web browsers.
Nova Act is available as an early research preview through the Amazon Nova Act SDK. It allows developers to build AI agents capable of performing complex tasks by breaking them into smaller, more manageable steps. The SDK supports additional customization through Python code, enabling developers to interleave tests, breakpoints, assertions, and thread pooling for parallelization.
In the words of Shubham Katiyar, a director of Generative Artificial Intelligence at Amazon:
This represents a fundamental shift in how AI agents operate in digital environments, enabling reliable execution of complex web-based tasks from form submissions to calendar management with unprecedented accuracy.
Amazon first introduced its Nova foundation models at re:Invent 2024, integrating them into AWS services and Amazon Bedrock. The Nova family includes three text generation models—Nova Micro, Lite, and Pro—along with Nova Canvas for image generation and Nova Reel for video creation. Now, with nova.amazon.com, developers can explore these models and experiment with their capabilities.
The launch of Nova Act comes with certain disclosures. Amazon emphasizes that the tool remains experimental, and users are responsible for monitoring its actions. Nova Act may make mistakes, and interactions—including prompts and screenshots—are collected for improvement purposes. Developers are advised not to share API keys or input sensitive information, as it could be captured in screenshots when the agent is active.
Reactions to the new models have been positive. Wesley Kurosawa, a business data analyst, shared his excitement about the platform, stating:
Absolutely incredible news from Amazon! With nova.amazon.com, we can now access cutting-edge AI models directly and experiment with frontier intelligence capabilities that were previously out of reach. This is an excellent tool for developers like us to quickly test ideas and then scale them through Amazon Bedrock. The ability to build web agents with the Nova Act SDK opens up entirely new possibilities for automation and assistance. Amazon has truly democratized access to advanced AI—can’t wait to start building with it!
However, some users have raised concerns about how Nova Act’s browsing capabilities might be perceived. One Reddit user reflected:
Very interesting, all these make me think that some websites might see it as web scraping techniques, as it might be too quick to be considered normal human activities. I’m sure these will be very interesting times. Where the border between web scraping and normal use will kind of overlap.
Looking ahead, Amazon plans to further refine its AI models, enhancing their accuracy and expanding their capabilities. The company is also exploring options for developers to create custom voices while maintaining a strong commitment to ethical and safety standards. In addition to advancements in audio and text, Amazon is investing in multimodal AI, including video, to enable more sophisticated and interactive AI-driven experiences.
U.S.-based users with an Amazon account can start exploring nova.amazon.com, where they can experiment with Nova models, generate images using Nova Canvas, and access the research preview of the Nova Act SDK.
