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Consumer Retail
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The latest AI stories, analysis and developments relevant to Consumer Retail — curated daily by Best Practice AI.
Use Casesfor Consumer Retail
193 articles
Allbirds’ Move to AI Has Echoes of the Dot-Com Frenzy
The faltering shoe company says it will become an AI computing provider
Inside San Francisco's AI-run store
Andon Market is an Anthropic-backed retail experiment testing whether an AI agent named Luna can effectively manage a business, from inventory to customer engagement.
AI-Run Store in San Francisco
A new retail experiment in San Francisco's Marina District is testing whether an AI model can run a business. The store, called Andon Market, is part store and part social experiment, with an AI agent named Luna handling everything from hiring and inventory to pricing and customer engagement.
AI Consumer Devices Steal the Show at China's CICPE Expo, with Rokid's Glasses Leading the Charge
At the China International Consumer Products Expo, AI-enabled consumer devices, notably Rokid's AI glasses, are a major highlight, showcasing advancements in integrating AI into daily life.
on ai matchmaker apps: a continued destruction story
AND - we arrive at the same lie. In Justin’s words about what Overtone might be => “…cutting-edge AI capabilities with deep respect for the messy, human journey of connection…to create something people actually want.”
Airbnb adds hotels to its platform in bid to boost growth
Company expands accommodation options alongside home rentals but analysts warn of stiff competition.
Beauty Industry Uses AI to Help Consumers
Artificial Intelligence in the beauty industry is becoming increasingly common, both in consumer-facing offerings and behind the scenes in research and development. Bloomberg This Weekend's Lisa Mateo dives into how AI is reshaping the industry. (Source: Bloomberg)
r/technology on Reddit: Allbirds stock tumbles after nearly 600% rally as the shoemaker rebrands as an AI company
I'll be glad when we've got the day that AI tracks the buys and sells and shows us who's really making out.
Myseum takes flight after Allbirds in fresh AI rebrand wave | Reuters
April 16 (Reuters) - A day after ... tab was up 146% early on Thursday, in the latest sign of an investor mania for artificial intelligence stocks....
RiskWebWorld: A Realistic Interactive Benchmark for GUI Agents in E-commerce Risk Management
arXiv:2604.13531v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Graphical User Interface (GUI) agents show strong capabilities for automating web tasks, but existing interactive benchmarks primarily target benign, predictable consumer environments. Their effectiveness in high-stakes, investigative domains such as authentic e-commerce risk management remains underexplored. To bridge this gap, we present RiskWebWorld, the first highly realistic interactive benchmark for evaluating GUI agents in e-commerce risk management. RiskWebWorld features 1,513 tasks sourced from production risk-control pipelines across 8 core domains, and captures the authentic challenges of risk operations on uncooperative websites, partially environmental hijackments. To support scalable evaluation and agentic reinforcement learning (RL), we further build a Gymnasium-compliant infrastructure that decouples policy planning from environment mechanics. Our evaluation across diverse models reveals a dramatic capability gap: top-tier generalist models achieve 49.1% success, while specialized open-weights GUI models lag at near-total failure. This highlights that foundation model scale currently matters more than zero-shot interface grounding in long-horizon professional tasks. We also demonstrate the viability of our infrastructure through agentic RL, which improves open-source models by 16.2%. These results position RiskWebWorld as a practical testbed for developing robust digital workers.
Antitrust on Aisle Five: How Well Do Divestiture Remedies Work?
arXiv:2604.15045v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Antitrust authorities frequently rely on structural divestitures to address competitive concerns raised by mergers. Using census-level establishment data and proprietary transaction records from the U.S. grocery sector, we provide systematic evidence on the long-run effects of such remedies. Divested stores experience an average 31 percent decline in employment over five years, driven by elevated exit rates and persistent contraction among surviving establishments. Sales similarly decline. Transaction-level evidence indicates that divested assets are systematically weaker and are often transferred to lower-capability buyers. These findings suggest that structural remedies may be less effective when the implementation of divestitures allows merging parties substantial discretion over the assets and buyers involved.
US companies that jumped ship to tech, AI businesses over the years | Reuters
Sneaker company Allbirds' pivot to AI computing has revived a Wall Street trend in recent years: smaller companies leaning into tech-focused transformations to win over AI-hungry investors.
The Allbirds Pivot Is a Terrible Idea … Right?
Its turn to AI could be an escape hatch for a company with nothing to lose.
The Tyranny of AI Everywhere
Sneakers? Why stop there?
LLM-HYPER: Generative CTR Modeling for Cold-Start Ad Personalization via LLM-Based Hypernetworks
arXiv:2604.12096v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: On online advertising platforms, newly introduced promotional ads face the cold-start problem, as they lack sufficient user feedback for model training. In this work, we propose LLM-HYPER, a novel framework that treats large language models (LLMs) as hypernetworks to directly generate the parameters of the click-through rate (CTR) estimator in a training-free manner. LLM-HYPER uses few-shot Chain-of-Thought prompting over multimodal ad content (text and images) to infer feature-wise model weights for a linear CTR predictor. By retrieving semantically similar past campaigns via CLIP embeddings and formatting them into prompt-based demonstrations, the LLM learns to reason about customer intent, feature influence, and content relevance. To ensure numerical stability and serviceability, we introduce normalization and calibration techniques that align the generated weights with production-ready CTR distributions. Extensive offline experiments show that LLM-HYPER significantly outperforms cold-start baselines in NDCG$@10$ by 55.9\%. Our real-world online A/B test on one of the top e-commerce platforms in the U.S. demonstrates the strong performance of LLM-HYPER, which drastically reduces the cold-start period and achieves competitive performance. LLM-HYPER has been successfully deployed in production.
Personalized pricing a ‘top priority,’ US FTC commissioners tell Congress
US FTC commissioners identified personalized pricing as a top priority during testimony before Congress.
Sneaker Company Allbirds Plans to Pivot to A.I. Yes, A.I.
After selling its business for $39 million last month, the company said it planned to buy powerful computer chips and rebrand itself NewBird AI.
For Its Next Act, Allbirds Makes an Unlikely Pivot From Shoes to AI
The company known for eco-friendly wool sneakers just raised $50 million for its next chapter—a head-spinning move to capitalize on the artificial-intelligence boom.
Allbirds is turning into an AI compute provider, because of course it is
Flipping the ‘Bird
What happens when AI runs a retail store
An exploration of the impact and operational changes that occur when artificial intelligence is integrated into retail store management.
Retail Pulse Report: The Economics of AI and What it Means for Retail Part 1
Lest you think I am relying on one guy’s crusade-driven point of view, I came across another take on the financial mechanics of AI , driven by Apollo Global Management. They estimate that the market expects between $4 trillion and $5 trillion in digital infrastructure investment by 2030.
Seth Cohen on Accelerating AI Adoption for Lasting Business Impact | P&G
P&G’s Chief Information Officer Seth Cohen took the stage at Human[X] to share how companies can leverage AI to drive real, measurable impact across their business.
Sustained Impact of Agentic Personalisation in Marketing: A Longitudinal Case Study
arXiv:2604.08621v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: In consumer applications, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has traditionally relied on the manual optimisation of static, rule-based messaging strategies. While adaptive and autonomous learning systems offer the promise of scalable personalisation, it remains unclear to what extent ``human-in-the-loop'' oversight is required to sustain performance uplift over time. This paper presents a longitudinal case study analysing a real-world consumer application that leverages agentic infrastructure to personalise marketing messaging for a large-scale user base over an 11-month period. We compare two distinct periods: an active phase where marketers directly curated content, audiences, and strategies -- followed immediately by a passive phase where agents operated autonomously from a fixed library of components. Our results demonstrate that whilst active human management generates the highest relative lift in engagement metrics, the autonomous agents successfully sustained a positive lift during the passive period. These findings suggest a symbiotic model where human intervention drives strategic initialisation and discovery, yet autonomous agents can ensure the scalable retention and preservation of performance gains.
AI Revolutionizes Travel Planning
AI is revolutionizing travel planning in 2026, providing real-time updates and personalized itineraries, with widespread adoption in the USA, UK, and China. Major platforms like Rome2Rio are integrating AI to enhance user experience, though concerns about spontaneity and cultural impacts persist.
Meta facial recognition in AI glasses draws opposition of ACLU, other groups
Meta Platforms faces pushback from civil rights groups and labor unions regarding potential plans to introduce facial recognition to its Meta AI smart glasses.
AI is changing how small online sellers decide what to make
AI is changing how small online sellers decide what to make Informed i’s Weekly Business Insights FREE weekly newsletter, sharing knowledge briefs from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES, as a social service to foster business acumen | Since 2017 | Week 447 | April 03-09, 2026 | Archive AI is changing how small online sellers decide what to make By Caiwei Chen | MIT Technology Review | April 6, 2026 3 key takeaways from the article 1. For small entrepreneurs in the US, deciding what to sell and where to make it has traditionally been a slow, labor-intensive process that can take months. Now that work is increasingly being done by AI tools like Accio, which help connect businesses with manufacturers in countries including China and India. Business owners and e-commerce experts told MIT Technology Review that these AI tools are making sourcing more accessible and si
Tesco partners with Adobe to ramp up AI‑driven personalised ...
Tesco partners with Adobe to ramp up AI‑driven personalised marketing | Reuters Exclusive news, data and analytics for financial market professionalsLearn more aboutRefinitiv Tesco logo is seen in this illustration taken February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - Tesco, Britain's biggest food retailer, has partnered with U.S. software group Adobe to deepen its use of artificial intelligence in analysing customer data, aiming to boost sales through more personalised marketing, the groups said on Monday. Retailers are increasingly turning to AI in pursuit of revenue gro
Walmart-owned Flipkart, Amazon are squeezing India's quick commerce startups
Major retailers like Amazon and Flipkart are intensifying competition, putting pressure on India's emerging quick commerce sector.
Google Launches AI Mode in India for Restaurant Reservations
Google's new AI Mode in India automates restaurant bookings by curating options based on user preferences and integrating with platforms like Swiggy and Zomato.
Singapore’s Staynex acquires Swiss HotelTech startup Sleap.io in €12.8 million deal
Staynex, a Singapore-based AI-powered Web3 travel platform chaired by Priceline and Booking Holdings founder Jeff Hoffman, today announced the full acquisition of Sleap. io, a Zug-based hotel booking technology company, in a transaction valued at €12. 8 million ($15 million).
U.K. Retail Sales Growth Miss Estimates
U.K. retail footfall returned to growth in March, but the increase fell short of expectations ahead of a challenging period due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Block Introduces Managerbot, a Proactive Square AI Agent
Block's new proactive AI agent for Square sellers helps forecast inventory, optimize schedules, and draft marketing campaigns while keeping humans in the loop.
Minor Hotels unveils global AI platform with Google
Minor Hotels unveils global AI platform with Google eCommerceNews UK - Technology news for digital commerce decision-makers # Minor Hotels unveils global AI platform with Google Fri, 10th Apr 2026 (Yesterday) By Mark Tarre, News Chief Minor Hotels has unveiled plans for a global data and AI platform with Google Cloud, Salesforce, OneTrust and Deloitte, as part of a wider digital transformation across its more than 640 properties. Due for full deployment in 2026, the platform is being built as a single digital system separate from the group's legacy technology. It will connect guest data, marketing and service operations so the business can identify guests more consistently across brands and destinations using stay history and stated preferences. The group operates in 63 countries and manages brands including Anantara, Tivoli, Avani, NH
Chatbots are great at manipulating people to buy stuff, Princeton boffins find
Urge restraints before AdLand does this without appropriate disclosures Large language models can be very persuasive, and researchers say that's a problem when they’re used to create advertising.…
People-Led, Tech-Powered: Walmart’s AI Job Shift - Knowledge at Wharton
People-Led, Tech-Powered: Walmart’s AI Job Shift - Knowledge at Wharton Listen to the podcast. #### Subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. It’s a question that looms large for any business leader these days, but the stakes are even higher for those that manage massive workforces: As AI transforms the workplace, what happens to jobs and the people doing them? On this episode of Where AI Works, host Matthew Bidwell speaks with Donna Morris, the chief people officer at Walmart, about what it means to introduce AI across one of the largest workforces on the planet; more than 2.1 million associates around the world. Morris explains the company’s “people-led, tech-powered” approach, where AI is used to augment employees rather than replace them. She also discusses the emergence of new roles like AI agent-builders, and explores the skills that matter most in an AI-driven workplace.
Eurozone Retail Sales Fell Ahead of Iran War Energy-Price Surge
Volumes were down 0.2% on month compared with flat growth in January, a little weaker than the decline expected by a consensus of economists.
Agentic commerce and purchase disputes: Did you mean to buy that?
As agentic shopping becomes more commonplace, how do you dispute a purchase your AI made? Read more: Agentic commerce and purchase disputes: Did you mean to buy that?
South Korea to require disclosure of AI characters in advertisements
The Korea Fair Trade Commission is proposing new rules requiring businesses to clearly label AI-generated virtual characters in advertisements, with public feedback open until April 28.
Dublin start-up Zellor bags €850k for AI shopping assistant
Zellor's AI assistant acts as a 'digital concierge' that responds to customer queries with AI-curated content. Read more: Dublin start-up Zellor bags €850k for AI shopping assistant
KREV
AI creative agents for ecommerce brands.
AI is changing how small online sellers decide what to make
For years Mike McClary sold the Guardian LTE Flashlight, a heavy-duty black model, online through his small outdoor brand. The product, designed for brightness and durability, became one of his most popular items ever. Even after he stopped offering it around 2017, customers kept sending him emails asking where they could buy it. When McClary…
Brands Adopt ‘No AI’ Disclaimers to Stand Out Amid the Slop
Marketers move to get ahead of growing consumer skepticism by labeling content that doesn’t use AI.
In 2026, there have been more use cases for AI on display
In 2026, there have been more use cases for AI on display Only nine seats remain for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, May 6-8 in Palm Springs. # AI talk at retail events shifts to proving real results, defining a true strategy Ivy Liu This story was first published by Digiday sibling Modern Retail. At retail conferences, it’s become practically impossible to get through a full two or three days without having a conversation about the biggest buzzword in the industry: artificial intelligence. There are the tech vendors, scanning attendee name badges to find a willing participant from a brand or retailer to pitch their latest AI-powered upgrade. There are the executives on-stage who are eager to talk up the results from their new AI chatbot. And at the offsite happy hours, managers trade notes on vibe coding and the latest discoveries they’v
I Built 3 AI Agents Into a Restaurant POS. Here’s What They Actually Do. | by Mikael Selander | Apr, 2026 | Medium
I Built 3 AI Agents Into a Restaurant POS. Here’s What They Actually Do. | by Mikael Selander | Apr, 2026 | Medium Sitemap Open in app Sign up Sign in Medium Logo Get app [Write](https://medium.com/m/signin?operation=register&redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fmedium.com%2Fnew-story&a
Covalo: €3.5 Million Raised To Build Data Backbone For Personal Care Industry
Covalo has secured a €3.5 million funding extension to accelerate its transition from an ingredient discovery marketplace into a foundational data infrastructure platform for the personal care industry. The round was led by Hi inov, with participation from existing investors HTGF and seed + speed Ventures. The post Covalo: €3.5 Million Raised To Build Data Backbone For Personal Care Industry appeared first on Pulse 2.0. Topic group: Economics & Markets
The Home Depot: Franziska Bell Appointed EVP And Chief Technology Officer
The Home Depot announced that Franziska “Fran” Bell has been named executive vice president and chief technology officer. The company said Bell will lead the strategy, development, and alignment of technology, product management, data, and artificial intelligence across the organization. The post The Home Depot: Franziska Bell Appointed EVP And Chief Technology Officer appeared first on Pulse 2.0. Topic group: Adoption & Impact
Shotwell
The screenshot editor for iPhone.
Retail Analytics Market to Skyrocket to $20.6 Billion by 2031 Driven by AI and Omnichannel Strategies
The retail analytics sector is projected to reach $20.6 billion by 2031, fueled by the integration of AI and advanced omnichannel retail strategies.
'Silent killers': How AI start-ups are trying to solve one of the retail industry's biggest problems
The rapid evolution of generative AI has finally made these applications good enough to meaningfully impact retailers' bottom lines.
Retail Analytics Market to Surge
The retail analytics market is set to surge from $11.3 billion in 2026 to $20.6 billion by 2031, fueled by AI-driven tools and data-first strategies enhancing consumer interactions.
Apps promising to help people make new friends
As loneliness becomes a growing concern, a variety of new apps are emerging to help people connect and build friendships.
Glimpse: $35 Million Raised For AI Platform Powering CPG And Retail Operations
Glimpse, an AI platform focused on automating operations for consumer packaged goods and retail brands, announced that it has raised $35 million in Series A funding, bringing its total capital raised to $52 million. The post Glimpse: $35 Million Raised For AI Platform Powering CPG And Retail Operations appeared first on Pulse 2.0. Topic group: Economics & Markets
One Company’s Effort to Make an AI-Ready Catalog of Everything We Buy
In an Arkansas “capture factory,” hand models and food stylists are preparing for the future of shopping. Topic group: Adoption & Impact
The Smarter Way to Cash In on Meta’s Vision for Smartglasses
EssilorLuxottica makes the AI-enabled Ray-Bans that are growing more popular with consumers. Topic group: Economics & Markets
The Retailer That Welcomes Returns
While other retailers cut back, Revolve is doubling down on fast, free shipping and easy returns.
The Revival of the Fashion-Tech Love Affair
Get ready for the return of wearables and a new stage in the fashion-tech relationship. Topic group: Adoption & Impact
Guinness Price Index
Today's legitimate use of an AI agent: Calling every pub in Ireland to inquire about the price of a Guinness in order to create a consumer price index called the Guinndex.
AI Agents Reshape Retail
AI agents are revolutionizing retail by becoming primary buyers and bypassing traditional discovery methods, prompting brands to focus on end-to-end customer journeys.
Weekend Amazon Big Spring Sale Deal Special: Get Unlocked Smartphones Up to 50% Off Google, Samsung, and More at
From AI that talks back to folding screens that actually hold up, these Big Spring Sale deals are getting the party started with savings on top-rated smartphones.
He Was Supposed to Break Up Kraft and Heinz. He Changed His Mind.
Steve Cahillane, a food industry veteran, is trying to revive the company behind Kool-Aid, Oscar Mayer and many other brands.
The AI Hype Misses the People Who Actually Need It Most
Every day someone posts 'AI will change everything' and it's always about agents scaling businesses, automating workflows, 10x productivity, whatever.
Meitu's AI-Driven Growth Soars 41.6%
Meitu's photo, video, and design products soared to RMB 2.95 billion in 2025, largely due to AI Agent adoption and increased global subscribers.
OpenAI Also Killed This Little-Used Shopping Feature This Week
Instant Checkout, introduced in late 2025, allowed users to make purchases from Shopify, Etsy and Walmart sellers without leaving ChatGPT. OpenAI's decision to axe its AI video generator Sora, and stop work on a potentially controversial adult mode for ChatGPT may have been what got most of the attention this week, but it has also killed off <a alt="a little-used …
Meta to Launch New AI Glasses Aimed at Prescription Wearers
Meta Platforms Inc. plans to debut two new Ray-Ban smart glasses models next week intended for prescription wearers.
Macy’s just launched an AI-powered shopping assistant. Customers who use it spend nearly 400% more
The “Ask Macy’s” chatbot may help the company’s comeback and reverse declining sales.
PS5 price hiked by £90 due to global pressures
PS5 price rising from £479.99 to £569.99 in the UK due to global economic pressures.
Norwegian Cruise Line to Overhaul Board After Truce With Elliott
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said it will reshape its board after reaching a truce with activist Elliott Investment Management, as the cruise operator works to address operational missteps that have weighed on performance.
Giraffe360 Raises $10 Million in Funding
Giraffe360, a proptech firm based in London, has raised $10 million in a Series B funding round to enhance its AI-powered digital marketing solutions for real estate. The funding, led by Cipio Partners with participation from Founders Fund, Hoxton Ventures.
Pet SenS AI Pet Analyzer
Pet SenS AI - Pet Analyzer
Agentic Commerce Futures
BCG lays out four possible agentic-commerce futures—an open bazaar, brand resurgence through data ecosystems, super apps, and creator-led authenticity—so marketers can plan for multiple AI-driven market structures instead of betting on a single outcome.
Sous Raises €4 Million in Funding
Sous, an Amsterdam-based AI-powered growth platform for independent food and beverage businesses, has raised €4 million in seed funding. The round was led by Seed + Speed Ventures, with participation from Peakbridge, Ältitude, Gekko Capital, and angel investors.
Cents Raises $140 Million in Funding
Cents, a comprehensive software and payments platform for the laundry industry, has secured $140 million in a Series C funding round led by Sumeru Equity Partners, with additional investment from Camber Creek. This funding aims to enhance Cents' AI-powered product.
AI companies lick their chops as FCC proposes forcing call center onshoring
You actually think companies are going to pay Americans to take customer service calls in the AI age? Uncle Sam is trying to make American call centers great again. The question is whether they will be great because they're filled with local workers or whether this will provide yet another excuse for companies to turn customer service jobs over to AI.
Polish Fashion Retailer LPP Shares Jump to Record on Higher Sales
The Polish fashion retailer was the biggest riser on the Stoxx 600 index after the company reported higher sales for fiscal 2026.
Olaplex to Be Acquired by Germany’s Henkel for $1.4 Billion
The transaction represents a premium of around 55% over Olaplex’s closing price on Wednesday, the U.S. company said.
Amsterdam-based SOUS raises €4 million to become the AI-powered sous chef for restaurant growth
SOUS, an Amsterdam-based startup building AI-powered software to support independent food and beverage businesses, has announced it has raised €4 million in a Seed round to expand its team, enhance its AI platform, and support international growth. The round was led by seed + speed Ventures, with participation from existing investor PeakBridge, along with āltitude, […]
Amsterdam-based SOUS raises €4 million to become the AI-powered sous chef for restaurant growth
SOUS, an Amsterdam-based startup building AI-powered software to support independent food and beverage businesses, has announced it has raised €4 million in a Seed round to expand its team, enhance its AI platform, and support international growth. The round was led by seed + speed Ventures, with participation from existing investor PeakBridge, along with āltitude, […] The post Amsterdam-based SOUS raises €4 million to become the AI-powered sous chef for restaurant growth appeared first on EU-Startups.
Shopping with a Platform AI Assistant: Who Adopts, When in the Journey, and What For
This paper provides some of the first large-scale descriptive evidence on how consumers adopt and use platform-embedded shopping AI in e-commerce. Using data on 31 million users of Ctrip, China's largest online travel platform, we study "Wendao," an LLM-based AI assistant integrated into the platform. We document three empirical regularities.
Agentic retail dispute resolution startup Glimpse raises $35M from Andreessen Horowitz and others
Dispute-tracking software startup Glimpse said today it has closed on an early-stage $35 million round of funding to accelerate its plan to use artificial intelligence to help brands gain more leverage over retailers. The Series A round was led by the high-profile venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and saw participation from 8VC and Y Combinator, bringing […] The post Agentic retail dispute resolution startup Glimpse raises $35M from Andreessen Horowitz and others appeared first on SiliconANGLE.
Powering Product Discovery in ChatGPT
This update highlights new AI-driven content discovery features in ChatGPT that enhance product comparison, visualization, and shopping experiences. Our analysts characterized it as a consumer-focused enhancement aligned with AI-driven commerce trends, but ultimately view it as a routine feature rollout with unclear strategic direction for OpenAI between enterprise AI and consumer applications.
Celsius Stock Jolted After Costco Offers Energy-Drink Brand for Less
Costco recently introduced energy drinks under Kirkland Signature, its private-label brand that has gained a devoted following among its membership for selling everything from toilet paper to vodka at lower prices than those of some national brands.
Your Pricing Strategy Doesn't Work on AI Agents
Delivrd, a North Carolina company profiled recently by the Wall Street Journal, charges $1,000 per deal to negotiate car prices on behalf of buyers using inside knowledge of dealer floors and margins — essentially a human agent for hire. CarEdge offers an AI version of the same service for $40 a month, saving buyers an average of $1,000 per deal.
Meta Glasses Withheld From EU Over Battery Rules, Supply Snags
Meta Platforms Inc.’s rollout of new display-equipped Ray-Ban smart glasses in the European Union has been hampered by battery and artificial intelligence regulations in addition to supply constraints.
ChatGPT and Gemini are Fighting
ChatGPT and Gemini are fighting to be the AI bot that sells you stuff
Retailers Split on AI Checkout Options
OpenAI is pushing deeper into shopping with ChatGPT, but retailers like Walmart and Gap are split on who should control checkout. Some retailers are holding onto more control, allowing users to browse in AI chats but complete purchases on their own site.
Agentic commerce runs on truth and context
Successful organizations will implement an architectural decision encoded in identity, context, and control.
Estée Lauder in Talks to Acquire Spain’s Puig to Create Global Beauty Giant
The target company has a market value of about $10 billion, with brands including Carolina Herrera and Charlotte Tilbury.
Syndigo Acquires Taggstar to Enhance AI-Powered Conversion Rate Optimization
Syndigo, a provider of product experience management and master data management solutions based in Chicago, Illinois, acquired Taggstar, a London-based provider of AI-powered conversion rate optimization.
DoorDash Pays Workers for AI Training
DoorDash's new move to pay workers for real-world AI training raises questions about privacy trade-offs, deserving a hard second look before opting in.
Anno Robot Revolutionizes Hospitality
Anno Robot's AI Bartender and robotic kiosks are revolutionizing the beverage and hospitality industry by offering rapid, consistent, and diverse automated services.
Walmart Secures Two AI Pricing Patents
Walmart has secured two AI pricing patents, raising concerns about dynamic pricing and its potential impact on consumers.
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From AI that talks back to folding screens that actually hold up, these early Big Spring Sale deals are getting the party started with epic deals on smartphones by Google, Motorola, Samsung, and more.
Project ‘Buff Baby’ Transformed a Huggies Diaper. Now It Could Change the Way We Shop.
Kimberly-Clark’s chief executive aims to spread its approach to developing diapers across the company and bets he can add features while keeping down prices.
Genstore: Interview With Co-Founder & President Junwei Huang About The Conversational E-Commerce Platform
Genstore is an AI-native, conversational e-commerce platform that allows users to instantly create, manage, and scale online stores through specialized AI agents, reducing the need for technical skills, manual setup, and multiple third-party tools. Pulse 2. 0 interviewed Genstore co-founder and President Junwei Huang to learn more.
Unilever in Talks to Separate Food Business and Combine It With McCormick
The remaining Unilever company would focus on beauty, personal-care products and home.
Tinder Plans to Let AI Scan Camera Roll
Tinder Plans to Let AI Scan Your Camera Roll. The company is working on a new feature that will allow users to grant the app access to their camera roll, which will then be used to generate AI-created profiles.
AI Agents to Revolutionize Smartphones
AI agents are set to revolutionize smartphone interaction by replacing traditional apps, allowing users to execute tasks directly without manual navigation.
In Dubai, the World’s Luxury Brands Face a Wartime Crisis
Executives for high-end brands worry that a prolonged war will hurt sales in a city important to the future of the luxury industry.
The best pressure washers in the UK for cleaning garden furniture and patios – tested
Our expert puts the best power washers through their paces on the toughest – and muckiest – outdoor chores, from grimy paving slabs to dirty decking • The best lawnmowers to keep your grass in check The trouble with the great outdoors is that it gets a bit untidy. Your garden tools might do a good job of keeping your plot in check, but keeping your patio, decking and outdoor furniture spick and span can take hours, especially if you rely on a bucket of soapy water and a scrubbing brush. That’s where the pressure washer comes in.
Berlin-based Bounti raises €4 million for AI-powered operations platform for frontline and deskless workers
Bounti, a Berlin-based AI startup focusing on the physical economy, including hospitality, retail, and services, has raised €4 million for its AI frontline operations platform. The round was led by Ventech, alongside IBB Ventures, Robin Capital, and Common Magic. Business angels included Paul Forster, founder of Indeed, and Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk, founders […] The post Berlin-based Bounti raises €4 million for AI-powered operations platform for frontline and deskless workers appeared first on EU-Startups.
L'Oréal and Nvidia Team Up
L'Oréal and Nvidia are teaming up to revolutionize beauty and skincare product development by integrating Nvidia's Alchemi AI framework into L'Oréal's R&D ecosystem.
Dominik Buršík - Bloomreach makes online shopping personal | CDP, Marketing Automation, Search powered by AI | LinkedIn
Bloomreach makes online shopping personal | CDP, Marketing Automation, Search powered by AI · Experience: Bloomreach · Location: Brno - město · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Dominik Buršík’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.
Court rules Perplexity’s AI bots can stay on Amazon
A U. S. appeals court has suspended a California judge’s order that had barred Perplexity AI Inc.
Wikifarmer Raises $7.7M to Enhance AI-Powered Trading Platform
Wikifarmer, a B2B marketplace utilizing AI to connect food businesses with producers, has secured $7.7 million in funding, co-led by Brighteye Ventures and Piraeus Bank. This funding will enhance its AI-powered trading platform and expand its producer network in Latin America and other regions.
Trashie Acquires Savvy Search AI to Enhance Personalization and Discovery
Trashie, a rewards-driven recycling platform, has acquired savvy search ai to enhance its personalization and discovery features. This acquisition aims to improve user decision-making regarding donations and product discovery, furthering trashie's mission for sustainable consumption.
Soul 2.0
Fashion-Grade AI Photos Without the Camera Crew
Trashie Acquires Savvy Search AI To Enhance Personalized Decluttering And Shopping Experience
Trashie, a rewards-driven textile and electronics recycling platform, has acquired Savvy Search AI to strengthen its personalization and discovery capabilities across its circular economy ecosystem. The move is aimed at improving how users decide what to donate and how they discover new products, as the company expands its mission to make sustainable consumption more intuitive and rewarding. The post Trashie Acquires Savvy Search AI To Enhance Personalized Decluttering And Shopping Experience appeared first on Pulse 2.
Wikifarmer raises €7.1 million to evolve from “Wikipedia of Farming” into an “operating system for agricultural trade”
Wikifarmer, an Athens-based B2B AgTech startup using AI to connect food businesses directly with producers, has raised €7. 1 million ($7. 7 million) to drive global expansion.
Dark Watch Raises $3.5M in Oversubscribed Seed Funding
Dark Watch has secured $3.5 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round to enhance its AI-driven safety intelligence platform for the hospitality sector. The round was led by Eagle Venture Fund, with contributions from His Kingdom Resources and Blu Ventures.
China Consumer Rights Show Highlights AI Marketing Risks
China's widely watched consumer-rights television program exposed a form of artificial intelligence-driven marketing in which businesses misuse tools designed to optimize information distribution, raising concerns about disinformation and unfair competition.
AI Toys Need Regulation, New Safety Kitemarks, Systemic Impact Study Urges
Toys enabled with generative AI that talk to children should be more tightly regulated and carry new safety kitemarks, according to the first systemic study of the impact of the technology on young children, by the University of Cambridge.
Hannah Foxwell - AI for the rest of us | LinkedIn
It’s a strategic edge - and real-time behavior prediction is what makes it truly powerful.
Sunday: $165 Million At $1.15 Billion Valuation Raised For Autonomous Home Robots
Sunday, a Mountain View–based AI robotics startup building autonomous home robots, announced it has raised an oversubscribed $165 million Series B funding round at a $1.15 billion valuation.
Impact of AI Product Recommendations on Online Purchase Intent
Need responses for final thesis. Please help
AI Toys Pose Psychological Risks
A study highlights potential psychological risks of AI toys like Curio's Gabbo, urging stricter regulation and clearer privacy practices.
Tinder Unveils AI Enhancements
Tinder introduces 'Tinder Sparks,' featuring AI-driven updates, safety measures, and new modes like Astrology and Music to boost user engagement and real-life interactions.
Bumble Unveils AI Assistant
Bumble is launching 'Bee,' an AI dating assistant, to enhance matchmaking by learning user preferences and proposing compatible matches, amid strategic shifts to boost growth.
Ulta Beauty Expects Growth to Slow as Consumers Focus on Value
The cosmetics and fragrances retailer expects sales to grow 6% to 7% this fiscal year, compared with a 9.7% increase in the prior fiscal year.
AI toys for young children must be more tightly regulated, say researchers
University of Cambridge study finds AI-powered toys can misread emotions and respond inappropriately to children It was all going well. Charlotte, five, was chatting with an AI soft toy called Gabbo at a London play centre about her family, her drawing of a heart to represent them and what makes her happy. She even offered a couple of kisses to the £80 toy with a face like a computer screen.
Runner AI
Runner AI, with a focus on building, optimizing, and scaling AI-native stores.
Amazon Puts Humans Back in the Loop
Amazon is putting humans back in the loop after its retail website crashed due to inaccurate advice from an AI agent.
Sunday raises $165M at $1.15B valuation to launch Memo household robot
Helpful home robots startup Sunday Inc. announced today that it has raised $165 million in new funding on a $1. 15 billion valuation to scale up research and begin real-world deployment of its Memo home robot.
r/ArtificialInteligence on Reddit: Amazon puts humans back in the loop as its retail website crashes from "inaccurate advice" that an AI agent took from an old wiki
The meeting, run by the senior vice president who oversees Amazon’s ecommerce infrastructure, was framed as a “deep dive” into what went wrong. What went wrong, it turns out, involves the very AI tools Amazon has been pushing its own engineers to adopt, according to the FT.
Papa John’s Draws Fresh Takeover Interest From Qatari-Backed Fund
Irth Capital has submitted a bid to take the pizza-chain private.
Zalando Forecasts 2026 Profit Jump Driven by AI
Zalando forecasts a 2026 profit jump driven by AI, with shares soaring.
Bumble's New AI Assistant
Bumble announced a new AI assistant called Dates that chats privately with users about their values, relationship goals and communication style, then alerts two people when it detects strong compatibility. Why it matters: The dating world is already being AI-ified.
Paris-based Lemrock raises €6 million to help brands sell within AI agents like ChatGPT and Claude
Lemrock, a Paris-based DeepTech startup building the infrastructure for agentic commerce, today announced a €6 million ($7 million) funding round to accelerate the deployment of its agentic commerce solution. The round was led by Galion. exe, an early-stage VC fund.
vivo launches its new V70 smartphone across the Middle East
vivo has announced the global launch of its new vivo V70 smartphone, introducing a device that combines ZEISS-powered imaging, artificial intelligence features, and a refined design to enhance mobile photography and performance. vivo said the V70 represents a major step forward in smartphone imaging, integrating ZEISS optics with advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. The device features […] The post vivo launches its new V70 smartphone across the Middle East appeared first on MENA TECH.
Amazon Wins Court Order to Block Perplexity's AI Shopping Agent
Amazon wins court order to block Perplexity's AI shopping agent
AI Agents May Manipulate Consumer Choices
Brit competition cops warn AI agents may not be 'faithful servants' to consumers. Autonomous assistants could manipulate choices, push pricier deals, and prioritize their creators.
Judge Orders Perplexity to Stop AI Agents from Shopping on Amazon
A federal judge has issued an order blocking Perplexity's web browser-based AI agents from placing Amazon orders on a user's behalf
Helix 02 Robot Revolutionizes Home Cleaning with Advanced AI
Helix 02, a humanoid robot from Figure Robotics, showcases advanced capabilities in tidying living rooms.
Your Next Store
AI-first platform for building commerce stores, fast
Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps
This a16z ranking surveys the consumer Generative AI landscape using web traffic and mobile activity data, showing ChatGPT still leads by a wide margin, with 900 million weekly active users, while Gemini trails behind.
Making E-commerce Products Visible to AI Agents
A new system has been developed to make e-commerce products visible to AI agents.
Amazon Wins Injunction Against Perplexity AI in US Litigation
A federal judge in San Francisco has granted Amazon's motion for a preliminary injunction blocking Perplexity AI from using agentic AI functionality to access password-protected sections of Amazon.com
F.D.A. Opens Door to More Flavored E-Cigarettes
The agency is proposing allowing other tastes for vapes, like mint, coffees, spices or tea, to appeal to adults. At the same time, illicit candy-flavored types aimed at teenagers have flooded the market.
A smarter take on robotic floor care: the Dyson Spot+Scrub AI
Dyson’s new entry in the AI-powered robot vacuum category comes in the Dyson Spot+Scrub AI, a premium wet-and-dry cleaning robot designed to vacuum and mop simultaneously. Positioned as a successor to the earlier Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum, the Spot+Scrub AI reflects Dyson’s broader push into intelligent home automation. The machine combines vacuum suction with […] The post A smarter take on robotic floor care: the Dyson Spot+Scrub AI appeared first on MENA TECH.
Is South Korea’s dominant online retailer an American company?
Coupang leans on its US domicile to lobby Washington against probes from Seoul
Amazon Likely to Win US Injunction Blocking Perplexity AI Shopping Agent
Amazon's bid for a preliminary injunction to stop Perplexity AI from using its artificial intelligence-powered shopping 'agent' to access password-protected areas on the Amazon.com store will likely be granted.
Mr AI - eXp Realty | LinkedIn
Constant And Never Ending Improvement · Experience: eXp Realty · Education: RANCHO VERDE HIGH SCHOOL,POMONA HIGH SCHOOL · Location: Rancho Cucamonga · 500+ connections on LinkedIn.
‘Not for Kids’: Adult-Only AI Is Quietly Powering Kids’ Toys, Report Warns
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems that tech companies say are not appropriate for children are increasingly embedded in kids’ toys, according to a new report from the U.S.
Retailers want ‘delightfully human’ AI to do your shopping, but will the chatbots go rogue?
Plans for agentic shopping assistants are under way at Australia’s major companies. Guardian Australia tested the technology after a string of mishaps Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Major retailers say it won’t be long before sophisticated AI “assistants” plan your meals, organise your parties and do your shopping. But companies, many that are already struggling with their more primitive AI chatbots, will have to balance making the newer, “agentic” bots relatable without them going rogue.
MediaTek and Fibocom Revolutionize Smart Retail
MediaTek and Fibocom have collaborated to enhance smart retail with an edge AI system, featuring on-device large model support. Key features include a 15. 6-inch 2K display, built-in Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.
Albert Guilemany - 080 Real Estate | LinkedIn
I help professionals and SMEs unlock real business value with applied AI and digital… · Experience: 080 Real Estate · Education: EOI Business School · Location: Greater Girona Area · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Albert Guilemany’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.
Xiaomi, Unlike Google and Samsung, Thinks Camera Hardware Comes First
Xiaomi prioritizes camera hardware over AI, unlike Google and Samsung, according to a report by The Verge.
GOLF.AI: Bringing the Future to the Fairway
GOLF.AI (Salt Lake City, UT) aims to transform golf courses with hyper-personalized AI, automating bookings, member services, and operational tasks. Combining tech sophistication with traditional play, it enhances the golfer experience while reducing staff costs and unlocking new revenue streams.
Wanted: private equity buyers for unloved online marketplaces
Smarter operators in a depressed and AI-disrupted sector can still find an edge
r/technology on Reddit: MyFitnessPal has acquired Cal AI, the viral calorie app built by teens
Researchers Made a Social Media Platform Where Every User Was AI .
Smartphone shipments to take a 13% hit in 2026, budget options hit the hardest
A sharp rise in memory costs, fueled by intense demand from AI-focused data centers, is beginning to weigh heavily on the broader consumer electronics market. As component prices climb, the added expense is projected to reduce global smartphone shipments by 13% in 2026, with budget models suffering the most.
SellShots Uses AI to Create High-Converting Product Photos
SellShots is a new product that uses AI to create high-converting product photos in seconds. This innovation has the potential to disrupt the e-commerce industry, but its economic impact is still unclear. As AI-powered tools become more prevalent, it's essential to consider how they will affect the workforce and the economy.
7 AI Prompts to Upgrade Your Entire Home With Just Your Phone
The AI you use all week to analyze data and draft reports? That same model can look at a photo of your backyard and design three landscape concepts with plants that actually survive in your zip code. It can look at your living room at 2pm and tell you exactly which paint colors will play well with how the light shifts by evening.
Samsung Galaxy S26 vs. Apple iPhone 17: Battle of the Premium Phones
Choosing between the two biggest names in smartphones isn’t getting any easier. We compare the just-announced Galaxy S26 with the tested iPhone 17 lineup on value, specs, features, AI smarts, and ecosystem perks to help you decide. Price: One Clear Winner There are three Galaxy S26 phones and three iPhone 17 models; adding storage to any model increases the price.
Walmart Balances $100 Million Settlement With AI Investment And Growth
Walmart agreed to pay $100 million to settle an FTC and multi-state lawsuit over deceptive pay practices for delivery drivers. Despite this, the company continues to invest heavily in AI to drive growth and efficiency in retail operations.
Burger King AI Tool Tracks How Often Employees Say 'Please' and 'Thank You'
AI has a new use case: tattletale. However, the fast food chain says its OpenAI-powered assistant, Patty, will also help employees with questions about recipes and equipment. The next time you walk into a Burger King and notice the staff being extra polite, don't be surprised.
Burger King cooks up AI chatbot to spot if employees say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
OpenAI-powered assistant will help to ‘understand overall service patterns’, company says, as move sparks backlash From hospitality workers to retail employees, the exaggerated “customer service voice”, often mocked in internet memes as wildly different from someone’s real voice, has long been a cultural trope. Fast-food giant Burger King is now taking that voice one step further, saying it will detect whether employees are using words like “please” and “thank you” through the assistance of artificial intelligence. On Thursday, Burger King announced it is rolling out a new AI chatbot connected to employee headsets at hundreds of locations in the US as part of a platform called BK Assistant, powered by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
Burger King Uses AI to Evaluate Employee Friendliness
Burger King is using AI to evaluate the friendliness of its employees. The company has developed a system that uses AI to assess the behavior of its staff and provide feedback on areas for improvement. This move is expected to enhance customer experience and improve the overall quality of service at Burger King.
Burger King Uses AI to Monitor Employee Politeness
Burger King is using AI to monitor employee politeness, according to a report. The company is using an AI-powered chatbot to track employee interactions with customers and provide feedback on their politeness.
Have It AI's Way. Or Get Fired. - Fault Tolerant
The Verge is reporting that Burger King is launching an AI chatbot (powered by Open AI ) called Patty that will help with meal preparation and evaluate employee interactions—training its system to recognize certain words and phrases, such as “welcome to Burger King,” “please,” and “thank you.”
Greeting Cards and Inclusive AI. Lessons learned from Escargot | by Michael Long | Mac O’Clock | Jan, 2026 | Medium
And so I’m talking about Escargot today because we just introduced a new feature that uses AI , specifically AI -based image editing, in a way that I think is both practical…
The 17 People Crucial to AI Shopping
The development of AI shopping relies on the contributions of 17 key individuals who are driving innovation and growth in the industry.
Vambe Powers Conversational Commerce
Vambe is using Claude to power large-scale conversational commerce across Latin America, enabling AI-driven customer engagement via messaging platforms like WhatsApp. The deployment demonstrates measurable impact, including up to a 60% reduction in healthcare clinic no-shows, showing how Generative AI and chatbot with AI conversational capabilities are delivering real operational and financial results at scale.
German AI FoodTech startup Foodforecast raises €8 million to tackle ultra-fresh food wastage
Foodforecast, a Cologne-based AI FoodTech startup specialising in demand and production forecasting for ultra-fresh food supply chains, today announced that it has secured €8 million in Series A funding.
AI Features Destroy Smartphone Resale Values
A recycling business has found that AI features are destroying smartphone resale values. The Galaxy S25, for example, has shed 63% in value over the past 12 months. This is likely due to the emphasis on LLMs in new smartphones, making older models less desirable.
Best AI Girlfriend App - Top Chat Options Ranked
Darlink is always available and the free ai girlfriend tier actually gives you full conversations. No five-message paywall. Start chatting and the ai gf responds within seconds, offering personalized replies matched to your energy.
Samsung launches its Galaxy S26 lineup, with AI features and privacy taking center stage
For over a decade and a half, Samsung’s Galaxy S series has led in technology, introducing new features and setting industry standards. The series debuted on-device AI with the S24, enhanced it with the S25 as an AI companion, and now integrates AI into the core of the S26, working seamlessly in the background. Instead […] The post Samsung launches its Galaxy S26 lineup, with AI features and privacy taking center stage appeared first on MENA TECH.
London-based Dwelly secures over €79.3 million to scale AI-driven rental marketplace
Dwelly, a London-based property management platform acquiring and digitising independent letting agencies, has secured over €79. 3 million (£69 million) in combined equity and debt funding to accelerate its expansion across the UK. The raise includes a €36.
The Governance of Intimacy: A Preliminary Policy Analysis of Romantic AI Platforms
Romantic AI platforms invite intimate emotional disclosure, yet their data governance practices remain underexamined. This preliminary study analyses the Privacy Policies and Terms of Service of six Western and Chinese romantic AI platforms. We find that intimate disclosures are often positioned as reusable data assets, with broad permissions for storage, analysis, and model training.
Jampack AI: $3.2 Million Raised For Agentic Wholesale Automation Platform For CPG Brands
Jampack AI, an agentic platform automating wholesale operations for consumer packaged goods brands, announced it has raised $3.2 million in seed funding. The round was led by Maveron, with participation from other investors.
Inside the New York City date night AI
A recent article by Wired explores the use of AI in the dating industry, specifically in the context of a New York City date night. The article highlights the potential benefits and risks of using AI in this space and the need for more research and regulation.
Inside the New York City date night AI startup
A recent article in Wired highlighted the growth of AI-powered date night startups in New York City. These companies are using AI to match users and provide personalized recommendations for dates. The economic impact of this trend could be significant, with potential revenue growth for companies in the dating industry.
Inside the New York City Date Night AI
A recent article in Wired explores the use of AI in the dating industry, specifically in the development of a new AI-powered date night platform in New York City. This raises questions about the potential for AI to disrupt traditional industries and create new opportunities for innovation.
Amazon Echo Sales Decline Over Five Years
Amazon's Echo smart speakers have experienced a five-year decline in sales, facing stiff competition in the consumer AI device market. This downturn highlights shifting market shares as new AI-integrated hardware emerges from competitors like OpenAI and others. The sales drop could pressure Amazon's revenue from consumer devices, prompting potential shifts in strategy to regain market position. Economic implications include reduced margins in a segment once dominant but now challenged by advanced AI capabilities in rival products.
Korea Fair Trade Commission to Regulate AI in Commerce
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has announced plans to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in commerce. The KFTC aims to ensure that AI systems used in commerce are fair and transparent, and that they do not infringe on consumers' rights. The regulation will cover AI systems used in various commerce applications, including online shopping and advertising.
Google-Sea Partnership Enhances AI in E-commerce
Google and Sea Ltd are collaborating to integrate AI tools into Shopee and Garena, aiming to improve user experiences in Southeast Asia's e-commerce and gaming markets. This partnership seeks to boost market positions despite regulatory challenges, potentially increasing revenues through advanced AI capabilities.
What it takes to make agentic AI work in retail
Thank you for joining us on the “Enterprise AI hub.” In this episode of the Infosys Knowledge Institute Podcast, Dylan Cosper speaks with Prasad Banala, director of software engineering at a large US-based retail organization, about operationalizing agentic AI across the software development lifecycle. Prasad explains how his team applies AI to validate requirements, generate…
Exclusive: German startup happyhotel raises €6.5 million to build AI agents for hotel revenue management
happyhotel, an Offenburg-based HotelTech startup offering revenue management software for the hotel industry, has closed a €6.5 million Series A funding round to develop AI agents.
AI-Induced Shortages Hit TV Market
Constrained memory supply due to AI demand could disrupt TV production, with Samsung considering price hikes on new models and appliances. Industry firm TrendForce forecasts unavoidable price increases and a decline in TV shipments by over 190 million units in 2026, illustrating how AI's resource consumption is inflating costs in unrelated consumer markets.
Unilever's AI Partnership Drives Stock Surge
Unilever has partnered with Google Cloud to implement an AI-driven cloud migration strategy, focusing on enhancing demand generation and consumer engagement for its major brands such as Dove and Hellmann’s. This initiative is part of a broader industry shift toward AI integration in marketing and data infrastructure, which has propelled Unilever's stock to near its 52-week high, reflecting investor confidence in the potential for improved operational efficiency and revenue growth through advanced technology adoption. The collaboration underscores the economic value of AI in the consumer packaged goods sector, where data-driven insights can optimize supply chains and personalize marketing efforts, potentially leading to significant cost savings and increased market share. As companies like Unilever invest in such technologies, the ripple effects include heightened competition and accelerated innovation, contributing to overall sector productivity gains.
AI growth leading to jobs cuts in Denver
Angi Inc. is laying off 350 employees this quarter as the company searches for growth and artificial intelligence makes its operation more efficient.
Amazon’s Ring decides maybe partnering with a police surveillance firm is a bad idea after wide revulsion at Super Bowl ad
The Super Bowl ad depicts a lost dog being tracked by cameras throughout a neighborhood using artificial intelligence.
Runner AI Cuts E-Commerce Costs Dramatically
Runner AI's platform introduces autonomous online stores that self-improve, eliminating the need for expensive agencies and complex do-it-yourself tools. By automatically optimizing user experience and profitability, the technology promises significant cost savings for e-commerce businesses, transforming storefronts into efficient, self-managing operations. This innovation could disrupt traditional e-commerce service providers, reducing overhead costs and enhancing margins for retailers by bypassing human intervention in store management and optimization.
Airbnb Handles Third of Support with AI
Airbnb reports that AI now manages one-third of its customer support in the US and Canada, indicating substantial cost savings and efficiency gains. This adoption exemplifies how AI is reducing operational expenses and reshaping employment in service sectors.
One example of AI meaningfully affecting real company operations from Airbnb: "The rollout of AI-powered customer support agents resolved a third of North American tickets without human intervention, reducing resolution times and operating costs"
One example of AI meaningfully affecting real company operations from Airbnb: "The rollout of AI-powered customer support agents resolved a third of North American tickets without human intervention, reducing resolution times and operating costs" https://finance. yahoo. com/news/abnb-q4-deep-dive-product-134047745.
Would a Large Language Model Pay Extra for a View? Inferring Willingness to Pay from Subjective Choices
As Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed in applications such as travel assistance and purchasing support, they are often required to make subjective choices on behalf of users in settings where no objectively correct answer exists. We study LLM decision-making in a travel-assistant context by presenting models with choice dilemmas and analyzing their responses using multinomial logit models to derive implied willingness to pay (WTP) estimates. These WTP values are subsequently ...
"These cameras are just like the Eye of Sauron": A Sociotechnical Threat Model for AI-Driven Smart Home Devices as Perceived by UK-Based Domestic Workers
The growing adoption of AI-driven smart home devices has introduced new privacy risks for domestic workers (DWs), who are frequently monitored in employers' homes while also using smart devices in their own households. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 UK-based DWs and performed a human-centered threat modeling analysis of their experiences through the lens of Communication Privacy Management (CPM). Our findings extend existing threat models beyond abstract adversaries and single-h...
The ‘brownie recipe problem’: why LLMs must have fine-grained context to deliver real-time results
Today’s LLMs excel at reasoning, but can still struggle with context. This is particularly true in real-time ordering systems like Instacart. Instacart CTO Anirban Kundu calls it the "brownie recipe problem.
Controlling Output Rankings in Generative Engines for LLM-based Search
The way customers search for and choose products is changing with the rise of large language models (LLMs). LLM-based search, or generative engines, provides direct product recommendations to users, rather than traditional online search results that require users to explore options themselves. However, these recommendations are strongly influenced by the initial retrieval order of LLMs, which disadvantages small businesses and independent creators by limiting their visibility.
Amazon Turns Kindle Scribe Into AI Productivity Hub
Send to Alexa Plus transforms handwritten notes into tasks and summaries.
Heineken to slash up to 6,000 jobs in AI 'productivity savings' amid slump in beer sales
Heineken's CEO told CNBC that AI will play an 'important part of ongoing productivity savings' after the brewer said it plans to cut up to 7% of its workforce.
Harnessing AI for Predictive Insights: Unveiling the Future of Food Consumption Trends
… This chapter analyses shifting and AI’s role in the food industry … AI algorithms used in recruitment showed bias towards male candidates for certain roles, perpetuating gender inequality…
Digital disruption meets sustainability: linear and nonlinear impacts of AI, carbon emissions, economic growth, trade, and exports on tourism in advanced economies
… However, recent evidence also shows that the introduction of AI changes this connection by improving productivity, increasing the procession of innovations, and simplifying the value …
AI growth drives Woolworths to have seperate executives for infosec and physical security
Woolworths is splitting security leadership into separate executives for infosec and physical security amid AI growth. This follows the departure of its chief security officer. The change addresses rising AI-related cybersecurity demands in retail.