Yazılar

Walmart teams up with OpenAI to launch ChatGPT-powered shopping feature

/in /tarafından

Walmart announced a new partnership with OpenAI on Tuesday, enabling customers and Sam’s Club members to shop directly through ChatGPT using the platform’s Instant Checkout feature. The move marks the retail giant’s latest step toward integrating artificial intelligence into its e-commerce operations.

Following the news, Walmart shares rose 5% to $107.21, reflecting investor optimism about the company’s expanding digital strategy. The collaboration allows users to browse and purchase Walmart products directly within ChatGPT, using conversational prompts to find items and complete transactions seamlessly.

The world’s largest retailer has been steadily expanding its AI efforts, rolling out Sparky, a generative AI assistant within its mobile app that helps users discover products, summarize reviews, and find personalized suggestions.

The tie-up with OpenAI aligns Walmart more closely with rivals like Amazon, which earlier launched its own AI shopping assistant Rufus, designed to streamline online searches and product recommendations.

The partnership follows OpenAI’s recent collaborations with Etsy and Shopify, as ChatGPT becomes increasingly integrated into online retail ecosystems. According to SimilarWeb, ChatGPT referrals accounted for 15% of Walmart’s referral traffic in September, up from 9.5% in August, although they still make up less than 1% of overall web traffic.

Walmart said the initiative reflects its broader commitment to using generative AI to improve customer experience and simplify the shopping journey both online and in stores.

Amazon Devices VP Rob Williams Exits Company After Major Product Launch, Marking Rare S-Team Departure

/in /tarafından

Amazon is set to lose one of its top executives just days after unveiling its latest wave of hardware products. Rob Williams, vice president of device software and services and a member of CEO Andy Jassy’s elite S-team, has announced his departure, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters.

Williams, who has been with Amazon for 12 years and joined the 29-member senior leadership team in late 2022, will step down at the end of 2025 after serving in an advisory capacity for the remainder of the year. His decision comes immediately following Amazon’s high-profile devices and services showcase in New York, where the company debuted new Echo smart speakers, color Kindles, and upgraded Fire TV models.

In the memo, Panos Panay, Amazon’s senior vice president of devices and services, praised Williams for his influence on “the software and experiences of nearly all the products we’ve created and shipped.” Panay added that Williams had decided to “retire from Amazon,” though his future plans remain undisclosed.

Panay also announced a reorganization within the devices division, including the integration of the Alexa Smart Vehicle team into the main Alexa group and the promotion of Tapas Roy—previously head of Fire TV engineering—to succeed Williams as VP of device software and services.

Williams confirmed his exit in a LinkedIn post, saying he had been planning his departure for much of the year but stayed on to see through the recent product launches. “No one else has anything like it,” he wrote, referring to Vega, Amazon’s new proprietary operating system for Fire TV devices that aims to replace Google’s Android software with faster performance and lower costs.

The departure of an S-team member is considered highly unusual inside Amazon. The group serves as Jassy’s closest circle of advisers and is often viewed as the inner sanctum of corporate leadership within the company.

Williams leaves amid continued turmoil in Amazon’s devices division, which has struggled to find profitability. The unit has undergone multiple layoffs and has been slow to roll out its revamped Alexa voice assistant featuring generative AI capabilities. Despite these challenges, Amazon remains committed to expanding its devices ecosystem, including the launch of Fire tablets running Android and the rollout of Vega OS-powered hardware later this year.

Amazon confirmed Williams’s departure but declined to comment further.

His exit marks a significant leadership shake-up within Amazon’s long-term effort to reinvent its hardware strategy around AI and custom software—a mission that remains critical as competition from Google, Apple, and Samsung intensifies.

Meta to Use AI Chat Data to Personalize Content and Ads Starting December

/in /tarafından

Meta Platforms announced that beginning December 16, the company will start using users’ interactions with its generative AI tools to personalize both content and advertising across its major apps, including Facebook and Instagram.

The change — which will roll out globally except in the UK, the European Union, and South Korea — will apply to anyone who uses Meta AI, the company’s generative chatbot available via text or voice. Starting October 7, Meta will notify users of the update. However, there will be no option to opt out of this data integration.

AI INTERACTIONS TO SHAPE RECOMMENDATIONS

Meta said that user conversations with its AI — whether discussing travel, sports, or hobbies — will become an additional data signal alongside likes, follows, and other activity to help refine content recommendations and ad targeting.

For example, a user chatting with Meta AI about hiking might later see hiking-related groups, friends’ outdoor posts, or ads for hiking gear.
“People’s interactions simply are going to be another piece of the input that will inform the personalization of feeds and ads,” said Christy Harris, Meta’s privacy policy manager.

The company clarified that AI interactions involving sensitive topics — such as religion, sexuality, health, political affiliation, or ethnicity — will not be used for advertising purposes.

A MASSIVE PERSONALIZATION PUSH

The update is part of Meta’s broader strategy to make its AI ecosystem deeply integrated across all its apps. According to the company, Meta AI now has over 1 billion monthly active users, marking one of the fastest-growing AI deployments worldwide.

At the company’s annual shareholder meeting, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the goal for 2025 is to make Meta AI the leading personal assistant, emphasizing personalization, natural voice interactions, and entertainment.

The integration comes amid a new phase of AI monetization among tech giants. Both Google and Amazon are already leveraging AI to boost cloud revenues, but Meta’s move is unique for its cross-platform scale and its decision to blend AI chat data with social and ad algorithms.

By combining behavioral, conversational, and contextual signals, Meta aims to offer advertisers more effective targeting while keeping users more engaged through hyper-personalized recommendations.