AI Gossips (Page 2)

RBNB challenges chatbots, saying travel experience requires collaborative interfaces and an agent operating system

Listen to this article Read by Anchor The “RBNB” platform launched an AI-powered search engine as part of its latest update, a step that reflects the platform’s cautious and deliberate stance toward adopting these technologies. Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO, explained in an interview with the Tech

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Nine in ten shop with artificial intelligence and only a third delegate to agents, a trust gap tests digital commerce in Saudi Arabia

M. Jay

Intelligence

Nine in ten shop with artificial intelligence and only a third delegate to agents, a trust gap tests digital commerce in Saudi Arabia

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Digital commerce in Saudi Arabia is testing a clear paradox between the rush toward AI tools and the hesitation to delegate financial decisions to them. While nine out of ten consumers in the kingdom rely on artificial intelligence during their shopping journey, the

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Destro raises $8 million to manage warehouse robots, surpassing the hardware race tests supply chain efficiency

M. Jay

Intelligence

Destro raises $8 million to manage warehouse robots, surpassing the hardware race tests supply chain efficiency

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Destro has emerged from stealth with a seed round of $8 million, positing a hypothesis that differs from the current robot race: the best way to deploy robots successfully is not to manufacture a robot at all. While most new automation manufacturers focus

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DorDash moves food orders to text messages: commerce interfaces shift toward personal agents

M. Jay

Intelligence

DorDash moves food orders to text messages: commerce interfaces shift toward personal agents

Listen to this article Read by Anchor The DorDash platform announced the launch of an artificial-intelligence agent that lets users place food orders via text messages through Apple Messages, moving the purchasing experience from traditional app interfaces to direct instant messaging. The move aligns with a broader trend in

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Amaani raises $5 million to expand AÏZA, betting on technology and local ingredients to test Gulf expansion

M. Jay

Intelligence

Amaani raises $5 million to expand AÏZA, betting on technology and local ingredients to test Gulf expansion

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Consumer products company Amaani, based in Dubai, raised $5 million in a Series A financing round led by BECO Capital. The round also included Homegrown Ventures and the Surge program of Peak XV’s fund. The company will use the funding to support

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Amani raises five million dollars to bring its AI-powered retail model to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf

M. Jay

Intelligence

Amani raises five million dollars to bring its AI-powered retail model to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Amani, a UAE-based company that builds and develops consumer brands, closed a first financing round of $5 million led by Beko Capital, with participation from Homegrown Ventures and the Surge program of BICX, raising the total amount raised to $8 million after

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Shopify opens payment gateways for AI agents, a protocol path breaks the ban on automated purchasing

M. Jay

Intelligence

Shopify opens payment gateways for AI agents, a protocol path breaks the ban on automated purchasing

Listen to this article Read by Anchor While major commerce platforms such as Amazon and Adidas are moving toward banning AI agents and preventing them from making purchases on behalf of shoppers, Shopify chose to go in the exact opposite direction. The platform announced that it officially makes purchase completion

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Davids Bridal launches Pearl Connect, an AI platform that links wedding service providers with couples-to-be

M. Jay

Intelligence

Davids Bridal launches Pearl Connect, an AI platform that links wedding service providers with couples-to-be

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Wedding dress retailer "Davids Bridal" has launched a new intelligent platform called "Pearl Connect", a step intended to enable professionals and wedding service providers to market their services, communicate with couples-to-be and book appointments through a unified

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Autodesk: Artificial intelligence opens a new growth wave in Saudi construction

M. Jay

Intelligence

Autodesk: Artificial intelligence opens a new growth wave in Saudi construction

Listen to this article Read by Anchor On the sidelines of the Shaping Mega Projects Summit in Riyadh, Naji Atta Allah, head of construction and manufacturing for the Middle East and Africa at Autodesk, said that artificial intelligence is no longer merely a tool for automating repetitive tasks, but has

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TourismX and the smart travel architecture show how Saudi Arabia reshapes the visitor experience with artificial intelligence

M. Jay

Intelligence

TourismX and the smart travel architecture show how Saudi Arabia reshapes the visitor experience with artificial intelligence

Listen to this article Read by Anchor The transformation of the tourism sector is no longer limited to digital booking interfaces or consumer apps; it has moved to the core of data infrastructure engineering. At the 2026 World Tourism Day events, launched under a slogan that focuses on the digital

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Google tests purchase completion via Gemini with Flipkart, AI agents move from answering to financial transactions

M. Jay

Intelligence

Google tests purchase completion via Gemini with Flipkart, AI agents move from answering to financial transactions

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Google began testing a new feature in India that lets shoppers buy products directly from Flipkart, Walmart’s group platform, from within the Gemini and generative AI interface, a step that represents a practical shift for the search engine from browsing and recommending

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Artificial intelligence reshapes the travel experience in Saudi Arabia, from spatial crowd management to self-service booking agents

M. Jay

Intelligence

Artificial intelligence reshapes the travel experience in Saudi Arabia, from spatial crowd management to self-service booking agents

Listen to this article Read by Anchor With the world celebrating World Tourism Day on September 27, Saudi Arabia places AI tools at the core of the operational infrastructure of the hospitality and visitation sector, as part of its path toward attracting 150 million visits annually by 2030. Technological transformation

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EFG Holding borrows $40 million from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to provide direct liquidity for small enterprises in Egypt

M. Jay

Intelligence

EFG Holding borrows $40 million from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to provide direct liquidity for small enterprises in Egypt

Listen to this article Read by Anchor The Egyptian EFG Holding group secured a unsecured senior loan of $40 million for four years from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in a deal aimed at broadening financing available to micro, small and medium enterprises in the Egyptian market.

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Paymob raises $35 million pre-Series C led by Mubadala and EBRD

M. Jay

Intelligence

Paymob raises $35 million pre-Series C led by Mubadala and EBRD

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Paymob, the Egyptian payments infrastructure company, announced a pre-Series C financing round of $35 million, jointly led by Mubadala Investment Company (based in Abu Dhabi) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with participation from British International Investment (BII), Global

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Amazon bans Meta's smart agent from completing purchases: terms of use set limits on autonomous commerce

M. Jay

Intelligence

Amazon bans Meta's smart agent from completing purchases: terms of use set limits on autonomous commerce

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Amazon has begun blocking the Meta-owned smart assistant Mews from making purchases on behalf of users, after the agent’s users encountered an error message preventing them from completing orders through the e-commerce store. According to observations by GeekWire, the notice

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Apple store innovator confronts the agency commerce bet: why algorithms fail to replace the physical store?

M. Jay

Intelligence

Apple store innovator confronts the agency commerce bet: why algorithms fail to replace the physical store?

Listen to this article Read by Anchor While Silicon Valley companies pour billions of dollars into pushing AI agents to take on purchasing on behalf of humans, Ron Johnson, the former executive who built Apple’s retail store network, stands on the opposite side. Johnson, who is sixty-six, believes

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Tal Mal attracts pre-seed financing as linking purchases with salaries reshapes commercial credit

M. Jay

Intelligence

Tal Mal attracts pre-seed financing as linking purchases with salaries reshapes commercial credit

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Saudi fintech platform “Tal Mal” closed an early financing round preceding the seed stage, with a undisclosed amount, involving MM Partners investment firm, in a step that signals the startup’s official transition from product development and business-model validation to intensive commercial

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PetLibre launches Granary 2 series, with artificial intelligence and digital scales reshaping home feeding devices

M. Jay

Intelligence

PetLibre launches Granary 2 series, with artificial intelligence and digital scales reshaping home feeding devices

Listen to this article Read by Anchor PetLibre’s pet-care devices are moving toward integrating computer vision and built-in scales to turn traditional feeding bowls into precise health-monitoring platforms, as shown by the launch of its new Granary 2 line for dry food. The four-model series,

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Saudi platform Rise secures a $50 million Murabaha facility from Jadwa Investment, shifting real-estate tech from equity drain to contract liquidity

M. Jay

Intelligence

Saudi platform Rise secures a $50 million Murabaha facility from Jadwa Investment, shifting real-estate tech from equity drain to contract liquidity

Listen to this article Read by Anchor The Saudi real-estate technology platform "Rise" received an asset-backed Murabaha facility worth 187.5 million Saudi riyals, equivalent to $50 million, from Jadwa Investment, to finance its growing portfolio of residential lease contracts. The structural value of this step

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M. Jay

Intelligence

Answer engine optimization draws $180 million as Profound joins the billion dollar club to lock in brand slots

Listen to this article Read by Anchor The answer and generation engine optimization sector has secured a major financing round, as the company “Profound”, which specializes in AI-driven marketing software, announced the closing of a Series D funding round of $180 million, bringing its market valuation to $1.8

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BRKZ raises $31 million to digitize construction purchases with pricing algorithms and automation entering building sites

M. Jay

Intelligence

BRKZ raises $31 million to digitize construction purchases with pricing algorithms and automation entering building sites

Listen to this article Read by Anchor BRKZ, a Riyadh-based platform that digitizes construction material purchases, raised $31 million in a new financing round that combines equity and debt instruments to strengthen pricing algorithms and operational automation in a sector that has relied for decades on manual transactions and

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Beyond tourism chatbots, how agent engines are reshaping travel infrastructure from Dubai?

M. Jay

Intelligence

Beyond tourism chatbots, how agent engines are reshaping travel infrastructure from Dubai?

Listen to this article Read by Anchor The travel and tourism industry is moving beyond a superficial experimental phase based on automated chatbots and tailored client interfaces, reaching a deep restructuring of the core systems that manage global destination and traveler flows. This shift was the focus of the Future

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From chat and photo to grocery basket: how delivery platforms turn the shopping experience into a digital dialogue

M. Jay

Intelligence

From chat and photo to grocery basket: how delivery platforms turn the shopping experience into a digital dialogue

Listen to this article Read by Anchor The simultaneous announcement by Instacart and Shepet of AI-powered shopping assistants moves digital grocery retail from traditional search interfaces to automatically building a shopping basket through conversation and images. Instacart launched its new tool Clementine within its digital marketplace, while Shepet introduced

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Saudi Arabia’s move to 85% digital payments drives compliance standards to reshape transaction security against AI fraud

M. Jay

Intelligence

Saudi Arabia’s move to 85% digital payments drives compliance standards to reshape transaction security against AI fraud

Listen to this article Read by Anchor With the accelerating pace of digital transformation during the AI Year 2026 in Saudi Arabia, securing financial transactions is no longer just a periodic audit performed at the end of fiscal periods, but has become a continuous proactive protection race. After the Saudi

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Shoppers say goodbye to the search bar as a quarter of holiday-season buyers begin their journey with AI models

M. Jay

Intelligence

Shoppers say goodbye to the search bar as a quarter of holiday-season buyers begin their journey with AI models

Listen to this article Read by Anchor Holiday-season forecasts for late 2026 point to a fundamental shift in digital commerce, with e-commerce sales outpacing overall retail growth as artificial intelligence becomes a direct partner in purchase decisions. According to estimates from Deloitte for the period November 2026 to

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