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Jan 12, 2026
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Welcome back! Google unveils AI shopping tools for its Gemini chatbot. Anthropic unveils healthcare features in a move that follows OpenAI. Elon Musk’s xAI burns through $7.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025.
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Google is adding the ability for users to shop directly within its Gemini chatbot and AI Mode search tool, the company said Sunday, making it the latest firm to add AI-powered commerce features. Shoppers will be able to make purchases on Gemini using Google Pay, as well as link loyalty accounts they have with merchants to their Google account. (PayPal said shoppers will soon also be able to use PayPal to check out on Gemini.) Retailers will be able to offer shoppers special discounts and recommend add-on products before they complete their purchases. Those
features are some of the first advertisements that have been added to AI shopping tools—OpenAI has been discussing ways to show ChatGPT users sponsored information, but has yet to launch any ad features. The feature is powered by what Google calls the Universal Commerce Protocol, an underlying standard the company developed with retailers including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart. The protocol is similar to other standards like OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, which aims to standardize how AI apps, merchants and payments processors communicate with each other for purchases made by AI agents. Google’s efforts come as OpenAI has been ramping up its shopping efforts in partnership with Stripe and Shopify. Also on Sunday, Google announced new agentic software, to be used by retailers on their own websites, to allow shoppers to describe to an AI agent what they’re looking for, such as “a velvet sofa in emerald green that can withstand pet hair, but it needs to be under 90 inches.” The agent would filter for those factors and the shopper’s budget. Google’s announcement cited executives from Kroger, Lowe’s and Woolworths about their plans to use Google’s new
agentic software. The new software also has a food ordering agent for restaurants, which Google said would be used by Papa John’s. Similarly, Google also launched branded chatbots that appear in Google search results to help users research and answer questions. Google said in the coming months, the branded chatbots will be able to promote related products to shoppers and allow them to purchase directly from the chatbot.
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Anthropic isn’t leaving the healthcare sector to OpenAI. The AI startup behind the Claude AI models on Monday announced Claude for Healthcare, a new set of tools and resources that healthcare providers, payers and consumers can use for medical purposes. For example, Anthropic is adding tools that allow Claude to pull information from industry-standard systems and databases, making it easier for healthcare providers and payers to find and understand relevant information.The company also said it would add new capabilities for life sciences so Claude can provide more support in areas such as clinical trial
management. Anthropic’s latest push into healthcare comes just days after OpenAI announced it was adding personal health features to ChatGPT. OpenAI has highlighted how consumers use ChatGPT for guidance on healthcare.
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Elon Musk’s xAI burned through $7.8 billion in cash in the first nine months of 2025, Bloomberg reported Thursday evening, reflecting the high costs of AI development. XAI is responsible for the Grok AI models and chatbot. The Bloomberg report said xAI had reported a net loss of $1.46 billion in the September quarter, compared with $1 billion in the first quarter. XAI’s financial details are not publicly disclosed because the company is public, and the report gives the clearest window yet into xAI’s financial condition. The company said this week it had raised $20 billion in a new funding round. XAI’s revenue is lagging projections. Bloomberg reported the company had $200 million in revenue through September, compared with its projetion of $500 million for the year.
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If Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook is retiring anytime soon, the company didn’t provide any hints that such an event is imminent in its most recent proxy filing, released Thursday. In the filing, the company said the composition of its board of directors will remain unchanged for the next year. Previously, there was a possibility that longtime chairman Art Levinson would step down now that he’s 75. Apple has a policy that directors can’t stand for reelection after age 75. But Apple said in its filing that it will make an exception for Levinson, whom it is renominating as board chair, just as it has for board member Ron Sugar, who is 77. “In making this determination, the Board considered several factors, including the significant experience and expertise that each of Dr. Levinson and Dr. Sugar brings to the
Board, their deep insight into the Company’s business and operations, and their individual contributions as highly engaged members of the Board,” the filing read. Cook’s future at the company and Apple’s succession planning for him has been the source of frequent reporting over the past several months, including in The Information. Cook’s air travel expenses amounted to $789,991 in 2025, up from $655,883 in 2024, but down from $1,621,468 in 2023. Cook’s compensation in 2025 was $74.3 million, down slightly from the $74.6 million he received in 2024, and up
from $63.2 million in 2023.
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Andreessen Horowitz has raised over $15 billion across five new funds, its biggest fundraising ever. The venture capital firm raised $6.75 billion for its growth fund, which invests in more mature startups and $1.12 billion for American Dynamism, its fund focusing on defense, manufacturing and supply chain. The firm’s funds targeting AI applications and infrastructure each raised $1.7 billion. The remainder of the investments went to the firm’s biotech and healthcare fund and other venture capital strategies. This new fundraising topped the $9 billion raised in 2022 during the low-interest rate period. In a blog post, co-founder Ben Horowitz said the firm aims to ensure that “America wins the next 100 years of technology.”
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Nvidia is hiring its first chief marketing officer who will report directly to CEO Jensen Huang, an Nvidia spokesperson said. Alison Wagonfeld, who previously headed marketing at Google Cloud, | | | |
