Google’s new Universal Cart wants to follow you across the entire internet
Google has introduced Universal Cart, a centralized shopping hub that allows users to manage their shopping across the internet. This feature is designed to enhance online commerce by enabling AI assistants to actively participate in the purchasing process. Additionally, Google announced updates to its Agent Payments Protocol, which will allow AI agents to make secure payments on behalf of users.
- ▪Universal Cart enables users to add products from various Google platforms and track deals and price changes.
- ▪The feature uses AI to assist shoppers in making informed decisions, such as identifying compatibility issues when building custom PCs.
- ▪Google's Agent Payments Protocol allows AI agents to make purchases automatically within user-defined limits.
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At I/O on Tuesday, Google introduced Universal Cart, its so-called agentic hub for managing shopping in one place. The tech giant also announced updates to its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) and teased that it would bring the technology to Google products in the coming months, enabling users to authorize agents to make payments on their behalf. The announcements signal Google’s push to turn AI assistants from passive recommendation tools into active participants in online commerce. By launching a centralized shopping system and building infrastructure that lets software agents complete purchases autonomously, the company is positioning itself to control more of the entire shopping journey, and potentially the relationship between consumers and the merchants competing for their attention.
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