NEW YORK CITY, New York: Google is pushing its AI chatbot deeper into online shopping, unveiling new partnerships with major retailers that allow consumers to browse and buy products without leaving a conversation in its Gemini app.

Over the weekend, Google said it is expanding Gemini's shopping capabilities by teaming up with Walmart, Shopify, Wayfair, and other large merchants, effectively turning the chatbot into both a shopping assistant and a virtual storefront.

An instant checkout feature will let customers complete purchases from participating retailers using various payment providers without leaving the Gemini chat where they searched for products, according to Walmart and Google.

The announcement coincided with the opening day of the National Retail Federation's annual convention in New York, which is expected to draw about 40,000 attendees from the retail and technology sectors. Artificial intelligence and its impact on consumer behavior are expected to dominate discussions at the three-day event.

"The transition from traditional web or app search to agent-led commerce represents the next great evolution in retail," John Furner, Walmart's incoming president and CEO, said in a joint statement with Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

Google said the AI-powered shopping experience works by responding to user prompts with relevant items from participating retailers. For example, a shopper asking Gemini what gear to buy for a winter ski trip would see products pulled directly from retailers' inventories.

For Walmart customers, linking Walmart and Google accounts will enable more personalized recommendations based on past purchases. Items selected through Gemini can also be added to existing Walmart or Sam's Club online shopping carts, according to the statement.

The move follows a similar announcement in October by OpenAI and Walmart, which said ChatGPT members would be able to use instant checkout to shop for nearly all items on Walmart's website, excluding fresh food.

Google, OpenAI, and Amazon are competing to streamline AI-driven shopping, aiming to guide consumers from browsing to buying within a single chatbot interface instead of redirecting them to retailer websites. Competition between OpenAI and Google has intensified in recent months.

Ahead of the recent holiday season, OpenAI rolled out its own instant checkout feature within ChatGPT, allowing users to buy products from select retailers and Etsy sellers without leaving the app.

San Francisco-based software company Salesforce estimated that AI influenced US$272 billion, or 20 percent, of global retail sales during the holiday shopping season.

Google said Gemini's AI-assisted shopping features will initially be available only to U.S. users, with international expansion planned in the coming months. Payments at launch will be limited to cards linked to users' Google accounts, though PayPal support is expected to be added soon.

Industry executives say chatbots are meant to simplify shopping by replacing keyword searches with conversational queries. More advanced "AI agents" are also emerging, though their ability to independently complete purchases remains limited.

"I'm under no false belief that there's going to be a snap of the finger and then all of a sudden, agentic commerce is going to get everywhere," Mike Edmonds, PayPal's vice president of agentic commerce and commercial growth, said at Sunday's conference.

Shopify founder and CEO Tobi Lutke told reporters that many consumers like the idea of "having a personal shopper who really gets them," while stressing the importance of avoiding excessive automation.

"The person, the shopper, is in charge, and they can make the final call," he said.

Furner said Walmart is using AI to "close the gap between I want it and I have it." He and Pichai also announced that Walmart plans to expand drone delivery to 150 additional stores through a partnership with Wing, bringing the total to 270 locations by 2027.