Big Tech wants artificial intelligence to help you , but it won’t replace Santa

This year, between 15% and 30% of online shoppers are expected to use generative artificial intelligence to buy Christmas gifts, according to new research from Bain.

Target LuckTesting some platforms suggests that Santa may not be looking for another job just yet. While the offerings show flashes of magic, they may need a bit more time before customers can rely on them for real heavy duty.

OpenAI’s shopping research is elegant, if not seamless

Last week, in a loft space overlooking lower Manhattan, more than a dozen journalists clustered around rows of monitors as OpenAI unveiled its latest offering, called Shopping Research. With the new ChatGPT-5 mini model and available on ChatGPT plans, it gives you deep product recognition across the web.

Just describe what you want — “a gift for my 4-year-old art-loving niece,” “Black Friday deals on these sneakers,” “a little red holiday dress that’s festive but not over the top” — and it turns into a personalized interactive shopping guide in minutes.

The user interface is truly beautiful – a big step up from ChatGPT’s simple text responses. You get quick quizzes, modern and sleek product cards that you can give a thumbs up or thumbs down to, and an overall much better managed experience. But the model needs a few minutes to think, which means it’s not ideal for quick purchases.

Courtesy of OpenAI

OpenAI warned that Shopping Research can still make mistakes and you cannot shop directly through ChatGPT. The new interface is not connected to the company’s Instant Checkout, the one-click purchase feature that OpenAI announced earlier this year — which only works with a small number of participating brands and isn’t yet a seamless, universal payment method.

Josh McGrath, a researcher on the OpenAI team that developed Shopping Research, told me he’s seen the best results for products with lots of spec options that serve specific niches—things like backpacks, camping gear, or music gear.

An immediate purchase of Perplexity does not live up to the hype

Meanwhile, Perplexity offers its own AI personal shopper, which launched this week as a one-click instant purchase feature with PayPal. The contention is exciting: Confusion says the chatbot will remember past interactions to tailor recommendations, and that a PayPal tie-up keeps merchants in the retail loop — but the release doesn’t live up to the hype.

When I tested it, Buy Now wasn’t available on my Enterprise account, and only a handful of brands—and only a few of those brands’ products—actually offered Buy Now on the free personal account. A spokesperson for Perplexity said the feature will roll out to many more products and brands over the next few weeks, adding that merchants choose which items to display from their catalogs.

Michelle Gill, PayPal’s general manager of small business and financial services, said the tool isn’t meant to replace all other forms of holiday shopping just yet. “It would be nice to roll out to everyone at the same time, but at the same time, if you’ve had a random and enjoyable experience (with Instant Buy), you can share it with friends,” she said. For now, she added, it can be put to better use: For example, Instant Buy is currently available for some products from Abercrombie & Fitch, Ashley Furniture and Fabletics, with Gap and Reebok on the way.

“We’re not yet at the point where more than 50% of experiences will happen this way,” Gill said.

Google’s AI mode has clear limits

With Google’s latest AI shopping updates available in the Gemini app and through AI mode in Search, there are also now clear limitations. Announced two weeks ago, the AI ​​mode offering allows users to visit seller sites, view historical price data and track price changes — but only a few merchants are currently participating, including Wayfair, Chewy, Quince, and select Shopify merchants.

Many of the new interface’s most unique features won’t be fully rolled out this holiday season, including the ability to ask Google to automatically call stores for you. The feature is currently “available for select regions and languages ​​and may not be available for all users,” according to the site.

There’s also a big gap in options from OpenAI, Perplexity, and Google: Amazon prevents all three from shredding its site and blocks them from offering or comparing options from Amazon’s massive product catalog—a significant blind spot.

Amazon, Walmart, and Target are also looking for your AI purchases

However, if you want to experiment, Amazon, as well as Big Box giants Walmart and Target, are also introducing AI capabilities.

Amazon’s AI assistant Rufus, built into its app and website, got a big upgrade last week. Newly offers product search by activity, event, purpose. It can automatically add items to your cart, tell you if you’re getting the best price, find the best deals every day of the year, automatically buy items at a set price, or even take a handwritten shopping list and add items to your cart. It remains to be seen if the company has responded to complaints regarding accuracy and general responses.

Walmart recently launched Sparky, its own AI shopping assistant that offers conversational assistance: For example, you can tell Sparky you’re planning an event (like a party or holiday dinner) and it will suggest a basket full of things you need, including food and decorations. However, Sparky also struggled with accuracy issues, misbehavior, and limits in Walmart’s product catalog. Walmart also recently partnered with OpenAI, which means Walmart products can be purchased directly through the chat interface within ChatGPT using instant checkout.

Two weeks ago, Target also rolled out improvements to its AI gift finder, along with integrations that allow shoppers to browse or purchase Target products directly in ChatGPT, with curated suggestions based on recipient themes, budgets or profiles.

If you’re trying out artificial intelligence over the holidays, it’s wise to keep your expectations low and just experiment. All of these vendors and tech companies are moving fast—and the tools are getting better—but you’ll likely have to visit many websites or visit stores in person this year as well.

Next year, AI could give Santa a run for his money.