Pinterest launches an experimental AI shopping app called 'Ask Pinterest'
Pinterest has launched 'Ask Pinterest,' an experimental AI-powered shopping app that lets users seek recommendations and inspiration through a conversational interface. Pinterest on Wednesday announced a new experimental app called " Ask Pinterest " that will allow the company to explore a more conversational approach to shopping and product discovery that could eventually find its way to the main Pinterest app. It also introduced other AI initiatives, including Pinterest Model Context Protocol (MCP), designed for advertisers running campaigns on Pinterest's platform, and other AI ad tools.
Key Takeaways
- The news comes just ahead of the adtech industry's annual gathering at Cannes Lions, which this year is mainly focused on how AI can serve the needs of advertisers and marketers.
The "Ask Pinterest" online application gives the company another way to utilize its "Taste Graph" - its internal data mapping people to their interests and aesthetics.
- Google has already put AI to work to help online shoppers find what they need, track prices, and check out .
ChatGPT also experimented with agentic shopping , as have Meta , Shopify , and others.
- For instance, you could use the app to ask for help planning a dinner party or furnishing a room over time.
The idea, says Pinterest, is to test and explore how AI could better support people's shopping experiences while retaining the user's context across sessions.
- A new AI model, Performance+ creative, was also introduced globally to help advertisers pick between different ad creatives to find the one that's likely to perform best each time the ad is shown.
And the MCP infrastructure layer that Pinterest announced will allow advertisers to manage and monitor their campaigns using other third-party agentic tools in a standardized way.
- Sarah Perez Consumer News Editor Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011.
The news comes just ahead of the adtech industry's annual gathering at Cannes Lions, which this year is mainly focused on how AI can serve the needs of advertisers and marketers. The "Ask Pinterest" online application gives the company another way to utilize its "Taste Graph" - its internal data mapping people to their interests and aesthetics. It will initially be available in limited access, the company said.
The AI-powered experience is designed to expand the visual discovery experience Pinterest is known for beyond the main app to a conversational, chatbot-like interface where consumers can ask questions using natural language to get more personalized recommendations and inspiration. It also arrives as AI chatbots are increasingly competing with traditional search engines for consumers' attention. Google has already put AI to work to help online shoppers find what they need, track prices, and check out .
ChatGPT also experimented with agentic shopping , as have Meta , Shopify , and others. Rather than turning itself into a source of product recommendations that other AI services could leverage through licensing deals, Pinterest has largely focused on using its own data to train AI models and power its AI products . Plus, by making Ask Pinterest a stand-alone app, the company has a way to experiment with the technology without disrupting the main Pinterest experience.
For more details please read the original article at TechCrunch AI.
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