Technologies

Meta Enters the AI Shopping Wars to Challenge ChatGPT and Gemini

Mark Zuckerberg’s company begins a partial rollout of its agentic AI shopping research tool.

It was only a matter of time before Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta jumped into the AI shopping race. According to a Bloomberg report, Meta is testing a new AI shopping assistant feature to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in one of the fastest-growing areas of e-commerce.

A representative for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meta joins an AI shopping assistant market that is expected to boom. Research and consulting firm Grand View Research projects the market to grow from $3.36 billion in 2024 to $28.54 billion by 2033 — an annual rate of nearly 27%. North America currently controls 40% of the worldwide market.

Other AI shopping assistants aside from ChatGPT, Gemini and now Meta are also available. They include Amazon’s Rufus (ZDNet loves it), Amazon’s Interests, Klarna (by OpenAI), Shopify and even eBay.

Initially, only some US-based Meta AI users will see the new feature within the chatbot, according to Bloomberg.

Say you ask the chatbot about the most popular cat toys. The AI will return a horizontal carousel of products, along with price, brand information, and websites where you can buy them.

The AI tool will also offer a short explanation of why it is recommending each product. You won’t be able to directly purchase from the Meta AI site, however. You will need to visit the merchant’s external link.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT already has an AI shopping research feature. I tried it and asked, «Please show me the best cat toys to buy.» The AI responded with a curated list of highly rated cat toys. It offered a horizontal, scrollable carousel of products; each product displayed its price at different stores. As with Meta, you have to click on the store’s website link for each product to buy it.

With Google’s Gemini AI shopping assistant, I asked the same question: «Please show me the best cat toys to buy.» Gemini responded with products, images, prices, descriptions and links to stores — basically the same setup as Meta and ChatGPT.

Meta’s entrance into the AI shopping market reflects a broader shift in how consumers engage with products online, as AI reshapes e-commerce experiences and businesses seek deeper integration between social, search and purchase journeys.

Traditionally, online shopping began with keyword searches on e-commerce sites or search engines, but AI now enables more natural language, personalized discovery and tailored suggestions based on context, intent and user data.

Brad Jashinsky, director analyst at research firm Gartner, said customer trust is an issue with AI shopping assistants.

«Our recent survey found that nearly two-thirds of consumers think GenAI-powered shopping tools, whether provided by retailers or by GenAI platforms, will make biased shopping recommendations,» Jashinsky told CNET. «Customer behavior takes a long time to change. It wasn’t until 2023 that more e-commerce shopping was done on mobile devices versus desktop devices in the US. That was 16 years after the iPhone debuted.»

Jashinsky said companies have been slow to adopt agentic AI and GenAI for online shopping experiences.

«More than half of customer experience leaders fear that AI delivering inaccurate responses or content threatens the customer experience,» he said.

Technologies

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 4, #527

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 4, No. 527.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one unless you’re really familiar with a certain sports romance show and book series. If you are, you should have no problems with the blue category. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Lone Star State.

Green group hint: Support the team.

Blue group hint: Hockey love story.

Purple group hint: Not short.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Texas teams.

Green group: Sportswear brands.

Blue group: Associated with «Heated Rivalry.»

Purple group: Long ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Texas teams. The four answers are Astros, Mavericks, Stars and Texans.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is sportswear brands. The four answers are Adidas, Champion, Fila and Starter.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with «Heated Rivalry.» The four answers are Hollander, Metros, Raiders and Rozanov.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is long ____. The four answers are Beach State, jump, relief and snapper.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 4

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 4.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It will help if you’re a basketball fan, at least for the answer to 1-Down. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.