Google brings buy buttons to Gemini and AI search

Google turned up the heat in the AI shopping wars this weekend, announcing plans to turn Gemini into a merchant and launching an open-source standard built together with major retailers including Shopify, Walmart, and Target. The move comes as companies like OpenAI, Amazon, and Perplexity jostle for power and influence at the heart of a growing AI-powered shopping ecosystem, with consumers increasingly turning to the technology to streamline purchasing.

At the National Retail Federation's annual conference this weekend...