Tech giants like Google and Amazon want retailers to use AI everywhere

Whether they're selling $35,000 ostrich leather handbags or chicken feed, companies are trying to figure out how to integrate artificial intelligence into all parts of their business, from checkout and security to advertising, inventory management, product design and hiring.

The industry was caught off guard by Amazon's e-commerce revolution more than 20 years ago and doesn't want an encore. That's why, during a major retail summit in New York City this past week, two of the world's most powerful executives declared that AI would define a new age of shopping.

John Furner, the incoming CEO of Walmart, sat alongside Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, onstage at the National Retail Federation conference and announced that the two companies would rewrite the playbook for how all retailers sell their products.


Hundreds of startups are also vying for the attention of retailers, aiming to capture their most granular of needs. There are AI startups that offer in-store cameras that can detect a customer's age or gender, robots that manage shelves on their own, and headsets that give store workers access to product information in real time.

At the same time, incumbent tech giants are trying to establish their turf in an expanding market. During the NRF keynote Jan. 11, Pichai announced a new open-source protocol from Google that can power a brand's AI agents.

Walmart's AI shopping assistant, which can help find items, plan events and prep meals, is called Sparky. Amazon's is called Rufus.

7-Eleven said it was using conversational AI to hire staffers at its convenience stores through an agent named Rita. Executives said the system had reduced hiring time, which had taken two weeks, to less than three days.

Tractor Supply is using AI for customer service and curbside checkout. The company, which sells things like hay horse feed and chain saws, wants to provide AI service that makes recommendations with as much proficiency as a trained worker would.

"Store members have expertise in welding, in how to take care of chickens, in equine -- that has established trust with our customers," said Glenn Allison, Tractor Supply's vice president of AI platforms. "Anything we do from an AI standpoint has to have that trust."

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.