Latest news with #AIShopping
The Verge
2 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Samsung phones are getting a weird AI shopping platform nobody asked for
Glance AI, a brand owned by mobile advertising company InMobi, has announced a partnership with the Samsung Galaxy Store to roll out its e-commerce platform to Galaxy phones in the US. The company's app centers around what it calls 'a Generative AI shopping platform,' which is a serious contender for the most cursed phrase I've read today. The 'experience' comprises both a standalone app and a lock screen component to try and sell you clothes. Crucially, the whole thing is 'fully opt-in,' which, thank Christ. But even if you opt out — which you absolutely should! — this feels like a sign of things to come as advertisers try to leverage AI to sell us more stuff. Buckle up. You may remember InMobi as the company ruining Motorola's otherwise decent budget phones with a bunch of e-commerce nonsense. The version of this that Galaxy owners might see centers on a feature that uses gen AI and a photo of you to create images of you wearing different outfits, with new 'looks' available every day. Unsurprisingly, you can buy the clothes with a tap. This can all happen on your lock screen, and for some reason you can save these AI generated creations as lock screen wallpapers. I will not be doing this. Glance AI's lock screen features appear to vary by region; in India, where InMobi was founded, Glance lock screens show ads in addition to things like news updates and sports scores. The implementation on Samsung phones doesn't seem to include ads, mercifully, at least for now. I don't know about you but I will absolutely throw my phone into the sea the first time I see an ad on my lock screen, so I hope this never comes to pass. Glance AI is rolling out to Samsung Galaxy S22, S23, S24, and S25-series phones starting today, and should reach 'a full 100% scale' in the next 30 days. Presumably it'll arrive as an optional download in the Galaxy Store when that happens, though I wouldn't be surprised if it comes with a push notification encouraging users to go download it.
CNET
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
Talk to Me, Amazon Shopping App: How AI Could Sort Through All the Products You're Looking At
Online shopping excursions can quickly get overwhelming as you plow through product pages to find what's really right for you. Now Amazon is trying out a new tool to help you figure out potential purchases. All you have to do is listen. With Memorial Day deals in full swing, the e-commerce giant is making a trial run with short audio summaries for Amazon Shopping app users, delivered by "AI-powered shopping experts" that will analyze product details, customer reviews and other information they find on the web. "The feature makes product research fun and convenient — it's like having helpful friends discuss potential purchases to make your shopping easier," Rajiv Mehta, Amazon's vice president of search and conversational shopping, wrote in a blog post Wednesday. Amazon is starting out the "hear the highlights" AI feature in the US for a "subset" of customers on a limited number products before rolling it out more broadly in the coming months. Those products include the Ninja Blender, OSEA Undaria Algae Body Oil, the Rain Showers Splash Pond Toddler Water Table, the SafeRest 100% Waterproof King Size Mattress Protector and the Shokz OpenRun Pro Open-Ear Bluetooth Bone Conduction Sport Headphones. The new Amazon feature is another iteration in what has become an AI flood tide in online shopping. Google earlier this week introduced AI Mode, which is designed to suggest, select and pay for items for you, and also showed off a new AI service called Try On that depicts how clothes you see online will look on you. Walmart is working on its own AI shopping agent to perform tasks such as placing reorders and filling online shopping baskets based on user suggestions. And Shopify has launched Bluecore, which can answer shopper questions and recommend products. Klarna has an AI shopping assistant for comparison shopping. CNET deals expert Adam Oram noted that Amazon's new audio summaries will have to prove their value for consumers. "This feature may be helpful for some shoppers, as there's a lot of information on an Amazon product page and it can be difficult to parse all of it to find out what you need to know," he said. "But it's worth noting that there is a risk with it incorporating customer reviews, especially as these have been known to be gamed in the past. There's also the inherent risk of LLMs hallucinating, which may lead to inaccuracies if this is applied at scale, which is the opposite of what people making buying decisions need." As always with generative AI tools, it's essential to not take results at face value and to do some double-checking. "Using tools to help you gain a sense of what you're looking at quickly is generally a good idea, so long as you follow up with your own research to vet that the information is accurate," said Adrian Marlow, another member of the CNET Deals team. Consumer skepticism could be at least a short-term hurdle for all AI e-commerce tools. A recent study commissioned by Akeneo, a product experience company, showed that only 45% of consumers have "some level of trust in AI-powered recommendations and chatbots to provide accurate product suggestions based on their interests and preferences." The research also found that only 38% of shoppers who've used AI chatbots reported being satisfied with the support they received. Amazon, with net sales of nearly $638 billion last year, is incorporating AI into more and more sectors of its business. Rufus is a generative AI shopping assistant, Alexa Plus has been revamped and Audible will start using AI to narrate audiobooks.
CNET
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
Amazon Shopping App Tries Out AI Audio Summaries to Ease Your Shopping Research
A shopping excursion online can get overwhelming quickly as you plow through product pages to find what's really right for you. Amazon is trying out a new tool to help you figure out potential purchases. All you have to do is listen. With Memorial Day deals in full swing, the e-commerce giant is making a trial run with short audio summaries for users of the Amazon Shopping app, delivered by "AI-powered shopping experts" that will analyze product details, customer reviews and other information they find on the web. "The feature makes product research fun and convenient — it's like having helpful friends discuss potential purchases to make your shopping easier," Rajiv Mehta, Amazon's vice president of search and conversational shopping, wrote in a blog post Wednesday. Amazon is starting out the "hear the highlights" AI feature in the US for a "subset" of customers on a limited number products before rolling it out more broadly in the coming months. Those products include the Ninja Blender, OSEA Undaria Algae Body Oil, the Rain Showers Splash Pond Toddler Water Table, the SafeRest 100% Waterproof King Size Mattress Protector and the Shokz OpenRun Pro - Open-Ear Bluetooth Bone Conduction Sport Headphones.
Finextra
22-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Google launches agentic shopping experience
Google is to launch an agentic shopping experience within search results, enabling shoppers to set a price for a particular product and allow the AI agent to make the purchase. 0 At the search giant's annual I/O conference, the company introduced AI Mode for online shopping, bringing up Websites that sell goods, letting users do virtual try-ons of clothes and checking out products on behalf of users. After a user shops for a product through search, they will be able to add the goods to the online shopping cart and check out automatically. The user can review the transaction and pay or let the agent pay autonomously. AI Mode can also track prices and send a notification to the user if the product under watch reaches a set target price. Set for roll out in the US in the coming months, Google says agentic checkout will help users buy at a price that fits their budget. "Just tap 'track price' on any product listing and set the right size, color (or whatever options you prefer) and the amount you want to spend," explains Google. "Keep an eye out for a price drop notification and, if you're ready to buy, just confirm the purchase details and tap 'buy for me'. Behind the scenes, we'll add the item to your cart on the merchant's site and securely complete the checkout on your behalf with Google Pay."
Gizmodo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Google's Solution to Terrible Online Shopping Is Having an AI Bot Buy Stuff on Your Behalf
From keyword-infested product pages that are impossible to parse to scalpers using bots to snatch up coveted limited-edition releases like the Nintendo Switch 2 or the latest Labubu drop, online shopping has become a terrible experience. Funnily enough, Google believes it can make buying things online less crappy with what's basically an AI bot that shops on your behalf. At I/O 2025, Google Vice President and General Manager of Ads and Commerce Vidhya Srinivasan—a role that also oversees shopping—announced several new ways to shop with Google using AI to 'improve' purchasing stuff. The first AI-infused shopping feature is part of Google's new AI Mode and asks shoppers to use Gemini AI to offer suggestions and inspiration. For example, you may have a certain colored couch in your living room, but maybe you're not an interior designer or have poor taste in choosing room decor. No problemo! Just point your phone's camera and tell Gemini AI to, 'Find some furniture to brighten up the room.' And boom—just like that, you can scratch your inner Martha Stewart and tell all your friends what a natural you are the next time you have them over for dinner. AI Mode shopping will be available in the U.S. 'in the coming months.' Who's ready to buy stuff they don't need because Gemini AI keeps sharing inspo and making you feel bad that all your stuff is old? I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe Trump's tariffs may be a good thing for helping us buy less (and generating less waste long-term). Next is a feature called 'Try it on' that, as its name suggests, lets you try on clothes virtually. But this isn't like the 2010s, when every tech company was seemingly trying to figure out how to use augmented reality to superimpose digital clothes onto you like a virtual mirror. Friend, it's 2025, so naturally, Google needs to use AI to generate an avatar of yourself wearing clothing. Google says you simply upload 'a single photo' of yourself, then its AI will render a 3D version of your body wearing clothing created from product images. According to Srinivasan, the clothing on your rendered avatar has realistic fabric physics, folding, draping, and stretching just like it would if you tried something on in real life. 'We spent a lot of time working with a custom image generation model that is tailored for fashion, and it has a deep understanding of 3D shapes,' Srinivasan told media, including Gizmodo, during a video briefing prior to Google I/O. You can even share your avatar trying on outfits with friends to get their opinion. This is just another way to fuel consumerism. More concerning than buying stuff you don't need because it looks good on a 3D avatar is what it means to have a 3D body profile saved to your Google account. Even setting aside privacy, Google's asking you to render what needs to be an honest and realistic version of your body shape in order to accurately superimpose digital clothing on top of it. Obviously, digital clothing is going to render differently on a skinny person versus somebody who is heavier. How does constructing that body profile work, and how does the AI know what your body looks like from just a single image upload? Not to be that guy, but what if I got a nice rump but the selfie I uploaded doesn't highlight that? Sounds a little creepy to take a photo of your body and hand it over to Google just for shopping. And what if you go through body transformations? Maybe you might lose weight or get jacked because you're trying to 'focus on yourself' after a breakup. You have to keep your 3D avatar updated with your latest physique in order for you to get a lifelike depiction for clothing try-ons? I have so many questions, and Google hasn't shared any answers yet. 'Try it on' starts rolling out in Google Search Labs today, May 20, in the U.S. Last, we have the least exciting of the new AI-based shopping experiences, but it's arguably the most useful—agentic checkout. What? Agentic shopping—you know, using an AI 'agent' to shop on your behalf. It's like having your own personal shopper. Per Google, agentic checkout lets you set a desired price or select a specific color or size for something that you want to purchase. When that product becomes available with your preset requirements, the AI agent will cart it on your behalf on a merchant's website and fill out all the necessary billing and shipping information—and then complete the checkout through Google Pay. Automation! This agentic checkout sounds great. Gone will be the days of having a dozen merchant tabs open and smashing the refresh button over and over. That being said, I could also see online shopping getting worse if we're all 'botting.' It'll just be bots fighting bots in virtual waiting lines to buy things for us. Ugh. I guess we'll see how this shakes out when the feature rolls out in U.S. in the 'coming months.'
