The announcement was made Sunday, Jan. 11, at the National Retail Federation's annual conference in New York. The protocol, known as the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), is designed to enable different AI agents to communicate with retailers and payment systems using a shared system, rather than establishing custom technical connections for each platform. It covers product discovery, purchasing and post-purchase support, according to Google.
Google has launched the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that enables AI agents to shop autonomously. The protocol was developed with Shopify, Target, and Walmart and forms the basis for new features in AI Mode and the Gemini app. Today's consumers expect seamless transitions between different stages of shopping. To support this, there are real-time inventory checks, dynamic pricing, and instant transactions. Companies have to build separate connections for each platform that supports these features, which creates integration issues.
e*thirteen will shift its US sales model starting January 1, 2026, moving from third-party distributors to dealer-direct sales from Petaluma, California. Previously, its products were distributed by QBP, BTI, and dealer-direct, but it will now focus on direct sales via its website ( www.ethirteen.com). This change is in response to recent market changes, namely, new import tariffs in the USA. While many companies have raised retail prices and squeezed dealer margins, e*thirteen believes increasing prices now, amid a post-pandemic inventory glut, would harm consumers and the brand.
OpenAI's back-to-back announcements continue a trend, as CEO Sam Altman's artificial intelligence company makes pages of tech news all on its own. The company's pedal is to the floor: ChatGPT recently hit 700 million weekly users, the company is planning an utterly massive infrastructure buildout for its AI tools, and Altman has even set his sights, albeit vaguely, on the device business.