Shopify to launch AI assistant for merchants

Canadian ecommerce firm Shopify announced on Wednesday that it is set to launch an artificial intelligence assistant called “Sidekick” for merchants on its platform. This move follows a trend among technology companies in introducing AI assistants to enhance user experiences. In a video shared on Twitter, Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lutke demonstrated how Sidekick, which will be integrated as a button on the Shopify interface, can address merchant queries, provide sales trend information, and even assist with store updates. This development comes in the wake of other major companies like Alibaba Group Holding, Zoom Video Communications, and Databricks who have also introduced their own AI assistants, riding on the growing popularity of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT. The video showcased Sidekick’s ability to apply discounts to all items on the website, further boosting entrepreneurs’ capabilities. Although no specific release date was mentioned, the feature is expected to be launched soon. (Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)