Meta tests AI chatbot shopping features, competing with ChatGPT and Gemini

IT House, March 3 — According to Bloomberg, Meta is testing a shopping research feature within its AI chatbot to compete with similar tools offered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

As reported by IT House, this feature allows users to request product recommendations. It is currently available to some Meta AI web users in the United States. The chatbot displays product images in a carousel format, accompanied by descriptions including brand, official website, and price, along with bullet points briefly explaining the reasons for the recommendations. A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the shopping tool is in the testing phase but declined to provide further details.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has set the goal of building a “personal superintelligence” to compete with popular chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini. The latter has also gradually added e-commerce features, aiming to generate revenue through related tools. During the January earnings call, Zuckerberg stated that the company plans to launch new products in the coming months to demonstrate Meta’s ability to offer highly personalized experiences based on users’ past behavior, interests, content browsing, and social connections.

Bloomberg found that during testing, the chatbot’s recommendations are tailored based on Meta’s knowledge of the user’s geographic location and inferred gender from the username. For example, when a user requests a down jacket, Meta AI considers the tester’s location in New York and offers options for women’s down jackets. Currently, Meta’s chatbot does not support checkout or payment functions, but users can click on merchant links for further browsing.

The spokesperson did not respond to whether Meta will charge promotional commissions from product recommendations or comment on whether Meta AI will prioritize brands that have advertised on Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms.

However, Zuckerberg’s comments during the January earnings call may offer some clues: he mentioned that the company’s advertising business helps merchants reach their target audiences precisely, and that the “brand new intelligent shopping tool will enable users to find specific products that meet their needs from the platform’s merchant product catalog.”