Another legislative bother is across the nook for Google.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren, who represents Massachusetts, is clamoring for deeper insights into the privateness construction of Google’s Gemini checkout. In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, she raised issues about how Google intends to make use of consumer information for the characteristic.
The letter, dated Feb. 3, mentioned, “On January 11, 2026, you introduced Google’s partnership with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, Walmart, and different retailers to implement a brand new AI commonplace termed the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), permitting AI brokers at totally different retailers ‘to speak to one another throughout each step of the buying journey.’”
Expressing her fear, she additionally added, “I am concerned that these partnerships and Google’s integration of a new shopping feature into Gemini could allow Google and its retail partners to exploit sensitive user data to violate consumer privacy and manipulate consumers into spending more and paying higher prices.”
How the Universal Commerce Protocol works
UCP is an open buying protocol developed by Google and Shopify, with different retailers later approaching board. Its open commonplace permits AI brokers to deal with the buying expertise — from product identification to checkout and past — streamlining shopping for operations.
According to Google Developers, it integrates flexibly with APIs, permitting companies and their builders so as to add it to their providers. For instance, a restaurant can combine UCP into its web site, enabling customers to buy gadgets after checking them out by way of a service like Gemini.
Google’s intention for customers is easy: take away the friction of navigating a number of steps when buying. The result’s a discount within the time spent from product discovery to buy resolution.
The rise of AI-driven commerce
In right now’s world, there’s a contact of AI in the whole lot. From simple-looking generative AI to advanced AI brokers dealing with enterprise wants, and even robots working house errands. As a consequence, it’s affordable to anticipate AI for use actively in commerce on this manner.
Predictive AI is already getting used to research statistics and consumer habits by way of buying algorithms. But Google is transferring shortly with UCP.
Currently endorsed by over 20 associate corporations, if this scales and succeeds, it is not going to solely problem OpenAI but in addition considerably alter how international commerce is carried out sooner or later.
Google’s response and the rising concern over its customers’ information utilization
The three-page letter expects Google to reply to its 12 questions by Feb. 17. As of when scripting this, Google hasn’t given any response but, which isn’t uncommon as a result of it’s simply two days in. However, we anticipate them to reply with a clarification and protection of their stance.
Google, nonetheless, shouldn’t be new to those sorts of probes. In latest years, the tech large has confronted quite a few investigations, rules, and even fines associated to its information insurance policies. Being one of many largest holders of web customers’ information, primarily from its search engine, product bulletins like this all the time increase privateness issues.
AI-based tasks want information, the type that Google has, and given its rising notoriety for partaking in unethical information practices, we anticipate extra prying eyes, together with the EU, because the characteristic will contact there too.
Also learn: NRF 2026 protection of agentic commerce explains how SAP is embedding agent-driven intelligence throughout retail operations.
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