customer acquisition
30 articles about customer acquisition in AI news
Retail traffic from LLMs surged 393% year-on-year, reports CX Network
According to CX Network, retail traffic originating from large language model interfaces increased 393% year-on-year, highlighting the growing role of conversational AI as a customer acquisition channel for retailers.
AI-Powered Search Makes Customer Reviews a Critical SEO Battleground
AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity are reshaping product discovery by synthesizing customer reviews into recommendations. Brands are now aggressively soliciting detailed reviews to optimize for this new discovery layer, treating review volume and quality as a form of AI SEO.
Meta's Strategic Acquisition of Moltbook Signals Major Shift Toward Autonomous AI Agents
Meta has acquired startup Moltbook to accelerate development of autonomous AI agents that could act online for users and businesses. The founders will join Meta's Superintelligence Labs, aiming to build platforms where millions of AI assistants interact across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
Anthropic's Strategic Acquisition: How Vercept Will Transform Claude Into a True Digital Assistant
Anthropic has acquired AI startup Vercept to enhance Claude's ability to interpret and interact with computer screens. This move positions Claude to become a more capable AI agent that can perform complex digital tasks autonomously.
Microsoft's 2000 Nvidia Veto Rights Resurface Amid AI Chip Wars
A 2000 investment deal granted Microsoft veto rights over any acquisition of Nvidia. This historical clause gains new relevance as Nvidia's AI dominance makes it a potential target in the ongoing semiconductor consolidation.
Amazon Acquires Legged-Wheeled Robot Startup Rivr to Automate Last-Mile Delivery
Amazon has acquired Rivr, a Zurich-based startup building four-legged wheeled robots for navigating stairs and uneven terrain. The acquisition, following Amazon's participation in Rivr's $110M funding round, aims to automate last-mile delivery.
The AI Scare Trade: How Market Fears Are Fueling an Unprecedented M&A Frenzy
A wave of AI-driven disruption is creating an 'AI scare trade' in capital markets, sparking fierce competition between traditional firms and AI startups. This has triggered a surge in mergers and acquisitions as companies race to adapt or acquire the technology reshaping entire industries.
OpenAI's $730B Valuation Marks New Era in AI Capitalization
OpenAI has secured a historic $110 billion funding round at a $730 billion valuation, with Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank leading the investment. This capital infusion will fuel the company's aggressive expansion in computing infrastructure and talent acquisition for next-generation AI development.
Nvidia's $30 Billion OpenAI Bet: The AI Hardware Giant Doubles Down on Software Dominance
Nvidia is reportedly negotiating a monumental $30 billion investment in OpenAI, potentially valuing the AI pioneer at over $800 billion. This strategic move would deepen the symbiotic relationship between the world's leading AI chipmaker and its most prominent customer, reshaping the competitive landscape of artificial intelligence.
Anthropic's $30B Mega-Round Reshapes AI Landscape with $380B Valuation
Anthropic has secured a staggering $30 billion in Series G funding, catapulting its valuation to $380 billion. This monumental investment comes as the AI startup intensifies its competition with OpenAI for both enterprise customers and cultural influence in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence sector.
Costco’s personalized product recommendations drive $500M in digital sales
Costco’s personalized product recommendation carousels generated nearly $500 million in digital sales in Q3 2026, with 3x higher conversion rates. CFO Gary Millerchip highlighted AI’s potential as a major sales driver, as digital traffic surged 37%.
Hims & Hers to Launch AI Weight-Loss Agent as GLP-1 Demand Surges
Hims & Hers to launch AI weight-loss agent for GLP-1 users, announced during Q1 2026 earnings call. Revenue grew 25% to $420M.
IREN Acquires Mirantis for $625M to Own AI Data Center Stack
IREN acquired Mirantis for $625M to add Kubernetes and OpenStack expertise, aiming to control the full AI infrastructure stack and compete with cloud providers.
Qualcomm Ships Hyperscaler Custom Silicon by December 2026
Qualcomm is developing custom silicon for an unnamed hyperscaler, with shipments expected December 2026, marking its most concrete data-center comeback move.
Nebius Claims First NVIDIA GB300 Exemplar Cloud for Training
Nebius becomes first cloud provider validated as NVIDIA Exemplar Cloud on GB300 for training, targeting hyperscale AI workloads.
Time's First AI A-List: Alibaba, ByteDance, Zhipu AI Make Cut
Time magazine named Alibaba, ByteDance, and Zhipu AI among its first AI-specific top 10 list, alongside six US companies and France's Mistral AI. The recognition highlights China's growing global influence through open-source models and consumer AI apps.
The $500B AI Chip Bottleneck: One Material, One Supplier
A single Japanese chemical company supplies 98% of the thin-film material used in every AI chip on earth. NVIDIA is paying half the capex to expand supplier fabs as lead times stretch past 6 months.
Google Breaks Ground on $15B India Data Center Project
Google held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 28 for a $15bn data center project in India, signaling a major expansion of its AI infrastructure in one of the world's fastest-growing digital markets.
Vertiv Acquires Strategic Thermal Labs for Liquid Cooling
Vertiv acquired Strategic Thermal Labs to add cold plate design expertise to its liquid cooling portfolio, addressing the rising thermal demands of AI workloads in data centers.
Agentic storefronts: How AI agents are reshaping the shopping journey from
Major tech companies integrate AI agents into search and checkout; platforms like ChatGPT become primary shopping discovery channels. Agentic storefronts (e.g., Swap) guide shoppers end-to-end, getting smarter per session.
LoopCTR: A New 'Loop Scaling' Paradigm for Efficient
A new research paper introduces LoopCTR, a method for scaling Transformer-based CTR models by recursively reusing shared layers during training. This 'train-multi-loop, infer-zero-loop' approach achieves state-of-the-art performance with lower deployment costs, directly addressing a core industrial constraint in recommendation systems.
GenRobot Launches 6-Camera Wearable for Embodied AI Data Capture
GenRobot launched DAS Ego, a wearable with six 2MP cameras for capturing zero-distortion, 270° FOV data. They also open-sourced the 'Gen Ego Data' dataset covering 200+ skills to train models on perception-action causality.
New Research Models 'Exploration Saturation' in Recommender Systems
A research paper analyzes 'exploration saturation'—the point where more diverse recommendations hurt user utility. Findings show this saturation point is user-dependent, challenging the standard practice of applying uniform fairness or novelty pressure across all users.
CoreWeave & Google Raise $6.7B in Junk Bonds for AI Infrastructure
Google and GPU cloud provider CoreWeave have jointly raised $6.7 billion through a junk bond offering, with Google taking $5.7 billion. The capital is earmarked for a significant build-out of AI data center infrastructure.
MiniMax Added as Official Provider for OpenClaude AI Framework
MiniMax has been integrated as an officially supported provider for the OpenClaude framework, giving developers a new, enterprise-backed model option for running the open-source Claude alternative.
Google, Marvell in Talks to Co-Develop New AI Chips, Including TPU-Optimized MPU
Google is reportedly in talks with Marvell Technology to co-develop two new AI chips: a memory processing unit (MPU) to pair with TPUs and a new, optimized TPU. This move is a direct effort to bolster Google's custom silicon stack and compete with Nvidia's dominance.
WOZCODE Launches Free Claude Code Plugin, Claims 40% Speed Boost
WOZCODE has launched a free plugin for Claude Code, claiming it makes coding sessions 30-40% faster and reduces costs by up to 55%. The plugin is available now.
Kering Doubles Down on L'Oréal Partnership
At its Capital Markets Day, Kering announced a new strategic division, 'Kering Next,' to manage beauty growth. The group will deepen its partnership with L'Oréal to scale brands like Gucci, citing the €3B success of YSL Beauty as a benchmark. This marks a major shift from in-house development to a capital-light, partnership-driven model.
Google, CoreWeave Sell Record $5.7B in Junk Bonds for AI Data Centers
Google and its partner CoreWeave sold a record $5.7 billion in high-yield bonds to fund AI data center expansion. The deal was oversubscribed, showing strong investor appetite for AI infrastructure debt.
Anthropic Ends Cheap Claude Subscriptions, Moves Businesses to API-Only Pricing
Anthropic has terminated its $20-$200/month Claude subscription plans for businesses, shifting all commercial access to its API pricing. This ends a period of subsidized access and aligns its model with competitors like OpenAI.