Google launched several new tools for retailers using generative artificial intelligence to improve online shopping experiences and other retail operations, its cloud business announced in a release Thursday. 

The suite of new products includes a generative AI-powered chatbot that retailers can use on websites and mobile apps. The virtual agents can talk to consumers and offer product recommendations based on shoppers’ preferences, Google said.

“In only a year, generative AI has morphed from a barely recognized concept to one of the fastest-moving capabilities in all of technology and a critical part of many retailers’ agendas,” Carrie Tharp, Google Cloud’s vice president of strategic industries, said in the release. 

Google Cloud’s offerings are the latest example of generative AI’s growing influence in the retail industry. Amazon debuted an AI tool for sellers in September, and the latest holiday shopping season saw many retailers incorporating the burgeoning technology behind the curtain.

Also part of the lineup Google announced Thursday is a large language model feature that the company said will bolster the quality of product searches. The feature is currently available to select stores, with general availability on its way later this year, the company added.

Google’s newly unveiled AI products additionally include tools for enhancing retailers’ customer service systems and expediting their product cataloging processes.

Beyond online shopping, brick-and-mortar stores are also getting new AI capabilities through Google Distributed Cloud Edge, an existing hardware and software product.

The announcement of Google Cloud’s latest AI tools comes just days before the start of the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York City.

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