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Hi AI Futurists,
AI is changing just about every aspect of everyday life, including holiday shopping. Rufus, Amazon’s AI shopping assistant, significantly increased conversion rates on Black Friday, reflecting a broader 800% surge in AI-driven retail traffic. AI-referred visitors were 38% more likely to purchase, even as overall consumer behavior slowed due to higher prices and economic caution. Let’s take a look.
Here’s our agenda.
Top AI news
Retail Gets Rewired
Top 3 selected AI tools
AI in the wild
Best,
Lex Sokolin
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Ecosystem: AI Venture Fund | Fintech Research | Lex Linkedin / Twitter
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Top AI news
🛍️ AI Elves Take Over Holiday Shopping
Retailers unleash hyperactive bots that promise gifts faster than our willpower crumbles.
💉 AI Throws Healthcare a Lifeline Before the Bills Win
Hospitals pray algorithms can plug budget holes faster than Congress digs them.
🔥 AI Crashes the Two-Party Party
Independent hopefuls bet bots can crack Congress faster than voters can roll their eyes.
🖥️ Google Plans to Grow Servers Faster Than Your Laundry Pile
The company bets brute-force compute will outpace any talk of an AI bubble.
🧠 AI Spots Dementia Clues Hidden in Brain Waves
New EEG models flag problems early enough to help while patients still feel fine.
🤖 TikTok Teaches Its Feed to Spot the Fakes
Users can now dial up or down AI chaos while TikTok quietly watermarks everything.
⚖️ Virginia Scrambles to Keep Up With Chatbots Gone Wild
Lawmakers race to rein in AI after realizing teens treat bots like therapists.
📐 MIT Trains an AI to Click CAD Buttons Like a Pro
A new model learns 3D design step-by-step so beginners don’t suffer through years of tutorials.
💇♂️ Startup Uses AI to Tell You If You're Actually Balding
MyHair scans your scalp so strangers don’t have to crush your ego first.
🗣️ Speechify Wants Your Browser to Actually Listen
New voice tools aim for hands-free bliss but still stumble on half the internet.
🌞 Musk’s xAI Adds a Solar Halo
A shiny new solar farm won’t distract locals just yet.
🎓 AI Becomes the Hottest Major on Campus
CS enrollment dips, but students flock to A.I. degrees promising relevance in a shifting tech job market.
Retail Gets Rewired
Amazon’s AI shopping guide, Rufus, drove an unusually strong wave of purchasing behavior on Black Friday, according to new Sensor Tower data. Sessions that involved Rufus doubled their purchase rate compared with the trailing 30 days, while non-Rufus sessions rose only modestly by comparison. Day-over-day, Rufus-assisted purchases jumped 75%, far ahead of the 35% increase seen in sessions without the AI. As Sensor Tower told TechCrunch in the original report, “Rufus consistently outpaced overall site activity,” and the trend was visible across both mobile and web traffic.
The numbers map to a wider shift: shoppers increasingly use generative AI to research products, compare deals, and cut through the overwhelming volume of holiday promotions. Adobe Analytics, which tracks more than a trillion U.S. retail visits, reported an 805% year-over-year surge in AI-driven retail traffic, largely for categories like electronics, toys, appliances, and personal care. Adobe noted shoppers arriving via AI were 38% more likely to buy than those coming from non-AI sources.
Even with the strong lift from AI tools, overall holiday spending tells a mixed story. Prices were up 7% and order volumes dipped slightly, suggesting that record spending may reflect inflation more than consumer enthusiasm. Sensor Tower added that although apps like Amazon and Walmart saw higher downloads and sessions, the growth was slower than last year.
The shift hints at something familiar: when choice increases and confidence decreases, people look for guidance. AI isn’t just speeding up commerce — it’s becoming a shortcut to clarity, a pattern that will matter for careers built around decision-making and creativity.
Takeaways at a Glance:
Rufus sessions doubled purchase rates vs. the 30-day baseline.
Rufus-assisted purchases rose 75% day-over-day vs. 35% without AI.
AI-driven retail traffic up 805% YoY across U.S. sites.
AI-originating shoppers converted 38% more often.
Despite AI gains, total consumer demand softened; inflation drove record spend.
App downloads and site visits grew but slower than in 2024.
What We Think About It:
AI agents are now influencing real revenue in measurable ways, not just user engagement. This confirms that contextual, task-specific assistants outperform generic search experiences. For founders, it’s a signal that agentic UX will become table stakes for conversion-driven products.
What You Can Do Right Now:
Try an AI shopping assistant (Rufus, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) when you’re unsure what to buy — ask it to compare products, find deals, or narrow choices.
Use AI to set a holiday budget by giving it your target spend and letting it categorize purchases before you check out.
Ask AI for alternatives to see if there’s a cheaper, better-reviewed, or more durable version of something you’re about to buy.
Use AI as a “gift-matching engine” — give it hobbies, age range, and a price cap for fast ideas.
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AI in the wild
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