Name: Shopify says AI is the biggest shift in commerce since the internet
Uploaded: 2026-01-13T16:55:36.087Z
Duration: 3 min 7 s
Description: Shopify has introduced new artificial intelligence-powered shopping features in collaboration with Google. Shopify President Harley Finkelstein described AI as the most significant transformation in commerce since the advent of the internet.

Shopify has introduced new artificial intelligence-powered shopping features in collaboration with Google. Shopify President Harley Finkelstein described AI as the most significant transformation in commerce since the advent of the internet.

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

Shopify has introduced new artificial intelligence-powered shopping features in collaboration with Google at the National Retail Federation conference in New York City. Shopify President Harley Finkelstein described AI as the most significant transformation in commerce since the advent of the internet, emphasizing its potential to understand and remember consumer preferences.

The company announced the Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard developed with Google, which allows AI agents to connect and transact with merchants across various platforms. Shopify's integration now extends to OpenAI, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and ChatGPT, enabling brands to be discovered and transact wherever commerce takes place.

Shopify says AI is the biggest shift in commerce since the internet

Let's turn to the consumer now. The National Retail Federation NRF conference is underway in New York City where global commerce company Shopify is announcing new shopping features in conjunction with Google. Shopify President Harley Finkelstein joins us now first on CNBC on a big morning and a big announcement. Harley so. So tell us what what is the news here around A.I. commerce. Yeah. Thanks for having me on. It's always fun to be here during NRF. We spoke last year as well. So the metaphor that I've sort of been using the last 24 hours has been that it feels like 2026 is the year that commerce breaks through the sound barrier. All that really means is that when you break the sound barrier it means you go really fast and the drag disappears. And I think 2026 there is that moment for commerce. I've been you know a chopper for half my life. I think A.I. is the biggest shift in commerce probably since the Internet. And I think we're going from these algorithms guessing what consumers want. Actually A.I. understanding and remembering it. And I don't it's hype at all. I think it's back. Maybe it's under hyped. And I think the end result is going to be there's probably going to be more billion dollar brands born in the next decade than in the last century. And our announcement yesterday with Google is effectively that we're making it possible for any agent no matter what application they use to connect with every single merchant and solve for every retail use case. So what does that mean. Well if I'm a consumer shopping online how does my experience change. Yeah. So effectively now what's what's happened is that we sort of you know we're not telling any consumer where to what a application use wherever they go. If they're having a conversation with that agent you CP which which is the universal commerce protocol which is that open standard we develop with Google allows agents to connect and transact with merchants. So it's built to be very flexible in the actual ways that commerce happens. So whether it's discounts or loyalty or subscriptions or delivery options all these will now get ported over inside those agents. And so from a merchant perspective it's not simply about I'm looking I'm going to ski trip. Let me see boots. It's show me every product I'm going to need for the particular weather and temperature in that place where I'm going. Show me discounts because I'm looking for a good deal. But also if it's a brand that I've already been doing research on show me those brands. And this idea that we're setting up this common language for agents where these AI tools can act independently and show consumers products on a merit based perspective we think is going to be a huge huge advantage for both consumers but also for brands getting found. Is it open AI doing this already. I mean can you do you work with them or are you competing with them because they've also sort of painted this picture of agentic commerce. Yeah. So actually with Shopify you can sell everywhere commerce happens and it's powered by Shopify checkout. But we actually have made it so that through Shopify you can syndicate your products to every single AI platform. We announced we've already announced that we're working with open AI back in back in Q4 but now we're announcing we're working with AI mode with with Google and Gemini as well as Microsoft and Copilot. So this idea that you can sell across every single AI agent including check GBT makes it so that every brand can be found.

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Shopify says AI is the biggest shift in commerce since the internet

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Rise of AI