ChatGPT AI bot adds shopping to its powers
Overwhelmed by online shopping? Maybe a robot can help.
The viral ChatGPT bot is adding shopping features to its powers, extending the reach of its artificial intelligence (AI) into an area traditionally dominated by media sites and tech rivals such as Amazon and Google.
It said the update would allow users to see prices and reviews more easily, as well as find direct links to purchase personalised product recommendations.
Parent company OpenAI said its selections would be "chosen independently and are not ads".
The company, which sparked the frenzy over AI in 2022 with its technological advances, debuted its search tool last year. It said it was among its most popular and fastest growing features, with over one billion web searches in the last week.
Google is still by far the dominant player in search, capturing roughly 89% of global traffic, according to analyst estimates. But its share of the market has been slowly slipping in recent months.
Adding shopping to its search puts OpenAI into even more direct competition with Google, as well other websites that offer product reviews, such as the New York Times and other publishers.
Amazon unveiled its own generative AI shopping assistant last year, while rival AI firm Perplexity also has a shopping tool.
OpenAI said the goal of its update was to make it "faster to find, compare, and buy products". It said the feature would be available to all users but it would take a few days for the rollout to be complete.
The change was one of several announced on Monday as part of a wider update to its search product.
OpenAI also unveiled a feature that would allow users to text chatGPT for live sports scores and would provide multiple citations in its answers.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What WWDC tells us about the future of Apple and the iPhone
This post originally appeared in the BI Tech Memo newsletter. Sign up for the weekly BI Tech Memo newsletter here. WWDC was a bit of a bust. Apple's Liquid Glass design overhaul was criticized on social media because it makes some iPhone notifications hard to read. A few jokers on X even shared a screenshot of YouTube's play button obstructing the "Gl" in a thumbnail for an Apple Liquid Glass promo. Need I say more? The more serious question hanging over this year's WWDC was not answered. When will Siri get the AI upgrade it desperately needs? Software chief Craig Federighi delivered the bad news: It's still not ready. That knocked roughly $75 billion off Apple's market value. The stock recovered a bit, but it's still badly lagging behind rivals this month. Google, OpenAI, and other tech companies are launching powerful new AI models and products at a breakneck pace. Apple is running out of time to prove it's a real player in this important field. Analyst Dan Ives is usually bullish, but even he's concerned. "They have a tight window to figure this out," Ives wrote, after calling this year's WWDC a "yawner." AI is complex, expensive, and takes a long time to get right. Apple was late to start building the needed foundational technology, such as data centers, training data pipelines, and homegrown AI chips. By contrast, Google began laying its AI groundwork decades ago. It bought DeepMind in 2014, and this AI lab shapes Google's models in profound ways today. When I was at Google I/O last month, one or two insiders whispered a phrase. They cautiously described an "intelligence gap" that could open up between the iPhone and other smartphones. Many Android phones already feature Google's Gemini chatbot, which is far more capable than Siri. If Apple's AI upgrade takes too long, this intelligence gap could widen so much that some iPhone users might consider switching. At I/O, these insiders only whispered this idea. That's because it will take something pretty dramatic to get people to give up their iPhones. This device has become a utility that we can't live without — even for the few days (weeks?) it might take to get used to an Android replacement. Still, if Apple doesn't get its AI house in order soon, this intelligence gap will keep growing, and things could get really siri-ous. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How to turn off Google's AI Overviews in web searches
Google's AI Overviews do not save me time. For one, I work for a tech blog and am therefore professionally curious as to whether or not the generated answers are correct, so I spend a few ticks figuring that out. (Answer: Sometimes, but not always!) Then things get existential as I contemplate how long a self-cannibalizing system can sustain itself — if the AI gives answers pulled from websites that survive on visits from readers, what happens when no one visits those sites because AI cribbed the answer? Will I still get to write for websites if websites die from traffic starvation? It's a lot to think about when all I want is TSA's latest lithium-ion battery regulations. Curiously (and unhelpfully) the first result when you Google 'How to turn off AI Overviews in Chrome' doesn't actually answer the question. The entry, from Google Support, discusses turning the feature off back when AI Overviews were experimental and handled through Google Labs. Navigate a little further down that page and you'll see: Note: Turning off 'AI Overviews and more' in Search Labs will not disable all AI Overviews in Search. AI Overviews are part of Google Search like other features, such as knowledge panels, and can't be turned off. Thankfully, I work with intelligent people and one of them supplied me with a simple method of ensuring each search performed in a Chrome browser bypasses the AI Overview and uses results from the Web tab only. Here's how you too can avoid wasted time (and energy) so you can search like it's 2024. Click the three dots in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser Go to Settings > Search engine > Manage search engines and search Under Site search, click the Add button Enter Name: Google/Web Enter Shortcut: Enter URL: {google:baseURL}search?udm=14&q=%s Click Add Then, (hat tip to Tom's Hardware for helping me figure this bit out) set the search type to default by clicking the three dots next to the shortcut you just created and clicking Make default. Now, go Google 'the best laptop power banks' and click on the Engadget entry (usually one to four results down) and spend a few moments looking at the ads (and the picture of my desk) before you move on so I can still have a job in 2026. In that same Tom's Hardware article, Avram Piltch links to the extension he built, which is a super easy way to hide the AI Overviews from sight. It'll still generate the response, you just won't see it. I prefer the Web method above, to avoid any unnecessary machine processing on my behalf, but the extension is easier and keeps you on the familiar 'All' search results tab with knowledge panels, video results and the like. To turn off the AI Overview for Chrome on your phone, I'll direct you to the fine folks at tenbluelinks. Just open the link in your phone's browser and follow the steps for Android or iOS.
USA Today
38 minutes ago
- USA Today
Bezos vs. Musk? How Amazon's Kuiper satellites look to compete with SpaceX, Starlink
Bezos vs. Musk? How Amazon's Kuiper satellites look to compete with SpaceX, Starlink Elon Musk has long dominated the internet-providing satellites business with regular SpaceX Starlink launches. Now, Jeff Bezos is looking to compete with Amazon's Project Kuiper. Show Caption Hide Caption What Atlas V, Amazon rocket launch looked like in Palm Beach County Atlas V rocket liftoff April 28, 2025, sent Kuiper satellites into low-earth orbit. The 'Amazon rocket launch' was seen in Palm Beach County, Florida. Amazon's Project Kuiper intends to one day provide high-speed internet to customers around the world with more than 80 planned launches to deploy more than 3,200 satellites. The first launch took place April 28 from Florida, and the next launch planned for June 16 would double the Kuiper satellites in orbit to 54. The Kuiper initiative is a direct challenge to Elon Musk, whose SpaceX company has delivered more than 7,000 Starlink satellites to orbit since 2019. For years, billionaire Elon Musk has dominated the internet-providing satellite business with his ever-growing Starlink constellation. Since 2019, SpaceX's famous Falcon 9 rocket has been regularly delivering to orbit batch after batch of Starlink satellites from launch sites in Florida and California. And since 2019, the venture has essentially gone unchallenged. But that's beginning to change. As of late April, rival billionaire Jeff Bezos has officially entered the broadband network market following the inaugural launch into orbit of Amazon's internet-beaming satellites. Known as Project Kuiper, the initiative is a subsidiary of the online commerce behemoth that has made Bezos one of the richest men alive. Now, after delivering the first batch of 27 Kuiper satellites on April 28, Amazon is looking to deploy even more. The upcoming launch, once again contracted with the Colorado-based United Launch Alliance, could get off the ground as early as Monday, June 16, from Florida. While a successful mission would double the number of Kuiper satellites Amazon has deployed, the company still has a long way to go until some 3,200 total planned satellites are operating in low-Earth orbit. Here's what to know about how Bezos expects Amazon to compete with Musk and Starlink with Project Kuiper, which could begin delivering service to customers by late 2025. What is Project Kuiper? Amazon builds satellite constellation Amazon's Project Kuiper intends to one day provide high-speed internet to customers around the world. To achieve that goal, the company has begun building a constellation of satellites linked to a global network of antennas, fiber and internet connection points on the ground. That endeavor officially began in April with a mission known as Kuiper Atlas 1 (KA-01) – named both for the Kuiper satellites and the Atlas V rocket that delivered them to low-Earth orbit. The famous Atlas V rocket is developed and operated by the United Launch Alliance (ULA,) a launch service provider that is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The satellites – Amazon's largest deployment to date – were significantly upgraded following an October 2023 launch of two prototype Kuiper satellites, according to the company. Amazon's $10 billion plans for Project Kuiper include a $140 million, 100,000-square-foot processing plant at NASA's Kennedy Space Center that will prep Project Kuiper's satellites for launch from the Cape. Amazon has touted the service as one that will benefit "unserved and underserved communities" in rural areas where internet access may be elusive. What is Starlink? Jeff Bezos, Amazon to compete with Elon Musk The venture would provide a dose of competition to Elon Musk, the world's richest man who founded SpaceX in 2002. Musk's commercial spaceflight company has long led the way in satellite launches, having launched more than 7,000 operational Starlink satellites into orbit since 2019. The launches, making use of SpaceX's famous two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, have become routine in Florida and California. This year, the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, even gave SpaceX the greenlight to increase its Falcon 9 rocket launches from 36 per year to 50 from Southern California's Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. When is the next ULA launch of Kuiper satellites from Florida? A delivery of another 27 Amazon Kuiper satellites could take place as soon as Monday, June 16. Another ULA Atlas V rocket is due to launch as early as 1:25pm ET from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Once again, the Atlas V will be equipped with five solid rocket boosters for added liftoff power in addition to its main booster to accommodate the heaviest payload it's ever flown. For that reason, there's a chance people in states well beyond Florida could see the launch vehicle soar into the sky. Following liftoff, the rocket will deploy the satellites at an altitude of 280 miles above Earth. The satellites then autonomously use their electric propulsion systems to ascend to 392 miles high, where they can orbit Earth once every 90 minutes, according to Amazon. That's also around the time when Amazon's Project Kuiper team takes control from an operations center in Redmond, Washington. Operating in what's called low-Earth orbit – an altitude that allows for things like satellites to circle Earth fairly quickly – helps reduce latency and connectivity issues during video calls, gaming and streaming. What's next for Amazon's satellite constellation? The upcoming launch will be just the second of about 80 in the years ahead as Amazon continues to amass its satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit. If all goes as planned, the company said it expects to "begin delivering service to customers later this year." Bezos and Amazon are a long way from catching up to Musk and Starlink, but the first-generation Kuiper satellite system is due to include 3,232 advanced low-Earth orbit satellites. And while Musk is able to take advantage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket – one of the most active in the world – for Starlink deployments, Bezos doesn't yet have that luxury. While spaceflight company Blue Origin, which Bezos also owns, develops its massive New Glenn rocket for Kuiper deliveries, Amazon will rely on contracting other launch service providers for Kuiper launches – including SpaceX. However, United Launch Alliance will deploy a majority of the satellites on its Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur rockets. Amazon is also planning to contract with Arianespace. ULA could launch up to five more Kuiper missions this year, ULA CEO Tory Bruno told Reuters in an interview in April. Amazon said in a 2020 FCC filing that it could begin service in some northern and southern regions at 578 satellites, with coverage expanding toward Earth's equator as the company launches more satellites. Contributing: Rick Neale, FLORIDA TODAY; Reuters Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@
