Financial services platform Stripe is introducing a digital wallet specifically built for the AI era, where autonomous agents can perform tasks that include shopping, paying for reservations, buying tickets, and more. At its annual conference this week, the company introduced Link, a wallet that allows you to connect various payment …

Amazon launched a new AI-powered feature on Tuesday that allows users to ask questions about products and receive conversational audio responses generated in real time. The responses are delivered by what the company calls “AI-powered shopping experts,” which present information in a natural, discussion-style format. The new “Join the chat” …

Snabbit, an Indian on-demand home services startup, has closed a $56 million funding round, confirming TechCrunch’s earlier report. Co-led by Susquehanna Venture Capital, Mirae Asset Venture Investments’ Unicorn Growth Fund, and Bertelsmann India Investments, the company’s Series D round values the Bengaluru-based startup at around $350 million, according to a …

The pet food aisle has never been more crowded, which is exactly why Hillary Coles says she was skeptical when Atomic Labs came calling. “I had the same reaction you did,” Coles told me on a call Monday afternoon, a day before her new company, Golden Child, opened for business. …

Amazon’s podcasting business has transformed over the past six months, according to The New York Times. Back in August 2025, the company reportedly eliminated more than 100 jobs from its podcast studio Wondery. At the time, Amazon insisted it was not shutting Wondery down, and that appears to be technically …

In a recent experiment, Anthropic created a classified marketplace where AI agents represented both buyers and sellers, striking real deals for real goods and real money. The company admitted this test — which it called Project Deal — was only “a pilot experiment with a self-selected participant pool” of 69 …

Apple’s recent crackdown on the MyFitnessPal-owned Cal AI food-logging app demonstrates that the tech giant is still enforcing its strict App Store rules around the use of external payments. The calorie-counting app, which was briefly removed from the App Store last week, had attempted to skirt Apple’s in-app purchase guidelines …

Uber launched a new feature on Friday that lets customers return purchased items without leaving their home. The new returns feature, which is accessed through the Uber Eats app, is the latest effort by Uber to add “stickiness” to its app by offering services that extend beyond its core ride-hailing …

As of March, AI traffic to U. retailers’ websites rose by 269% over the previous 12 months, continuing the momentum during the holiday shopping season when AI traffic was up by 693%, according to new data released on Thursday by Adobe. And in the first three months of 2026, AI …

Instacart has acquired Colombia-based grocery tech firm Instaleap, the company announced on Tuesday. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2019, Instaleap is a global fulfillment solutions platform that helps retailers streamline and scale their online operations. The company has clients across nearly 30 countries in …