Whether you like it or not, Amazon continues to put AI at the center of the shopping journey. The company announced “Alexa for Shopping,” its new personalized AI shopping assistant, powered by Alexa+. Notably, the experience will replace Rufus, its generative AI shopping assistant that launched in 2024. According to the...
Meta said it is adding the ability to start “incognito” conversations with its Meta AI chatbot within WhatsApp. These conversations, the company said, will be processed in a secure environment and can’t be seen by anyone. Users can start an incognito session by tapping on...
Audience participation can become a liability for brand communities online when it is treated as an open invitation rather than a designed system. Without the right structure, brands risk gathering scattered feedback, rewarding the loudest voices and creating expectations they cannot meet. Done well, however,...
Etsy announced the launch of its native app within ChatGPT, opening up a new way for shoppers to explore its catalog of over 100 million listings. The new experience is designed to move beyond the limitations of traditional keyword queries. Instead of typing something like “wooden coffee...
Shapes, an app where humans and AI characters chat together in shared group conversations, is emerging from stealth with $8 million in seed funding. Think Discord, but with AI characters alongside humans. Founded in 2022, Shapes has more than 400,000 monthly active users. The app’s founders,...
Meta announced an improved Meta Account system designed to make it easier for users to sign in and manage their Meta accounts and devices. The Meta ecosystem has become so expansive that it almost feels unwieldy — users might have various different accounts and log-ins for Facebook,...
For years, existing consumer platforms have tried to keep users within their app by offering more services. After the rise of the AI chatbot, the trend is to have people use the assistant for both queries and actions without leaving the conversational flow. With its...
Creative teams are running into a familiar problem with a new label: When everything starts to look and sound the same, consumers lose interest, and the high volume of low-quality, mass-produced digital content users see daily now—a.k.a. “AI slop”—has only amplified this sensation. When consumers...
Last October, Adobe previewed a new assistant under the “Project Moonlight” moniker that could do tasks for you by tapping different Adobe apps like Acrobat, Photoshop, and Express. That product is now being launched as Firefly AI Assistant. The Firefly AI Assistant will be available in public...
OpenAI has acquired personal finance startup Hiro Finance. The startup was backed by A-list fintech VC firm Ribbit, as well as General Catalyst and Restive. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, nor did Hiro ever disclose how much money it raised. Since Hiro said...
