U.S. discount retailer Walmart (WMT) is partnering with Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) on a new artificial intelligence (A.I.) shopping platform.
Consumers will soon be able to use Alphabet’s A.I. assistant Gemini to more easily discover and buy products from Walmart and its Sam’s Club warehouses.
The two companies have not said when the new A.I. shopping platform will officially launch or provided financial terms of the partnership.
However, Walmart has said that the new A.I. platform will start first in the U.S. and then expand globally.
Analysts have said that Walmart is racing to keep up with customers who are using A.I. chatbots to save time or look for inspiration.
Last autumn, Walmart announced a deal with privately held OpenAI that allows shoppers to make online purchases using ChatGPT.
Walmart also has its own A.I. chatbot, a yellow smiley-face assistant called “Sparky.”
Management at Walmart has said that the fact customers are increasingly searching for items using an A.I. chatbot rather than its app or website is reshaping the retailer’s digital strategy.
WMT stock has risen 25% over the past year to trade at $114.53 U.S. per share.
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