Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is pressing Google for more information about its plans to build a checkout feature into its Gemini AI chatbot. In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Warren expressed concern that the integration could allow Google and retailers to “exploit sensitive user data” or “induce consumers to spend more and pay higher prices.”
Last month, Google announced that it would soon allow users to purchase products directly within Gemini via the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a standard it developed in partnership with Shopify, Target, Walmart, Wayfair, and Etsy. UCP is supposed to make it easier for AI agents to communicate with retailers, but Warren wants to know how much user information – and what type – Google plans to provide to retailers through this pipeline.
“Google already has unprecedented troves of user search and AI chat data, and such intimate data can be merged with both user data from other Google services and third-party retailer data to drive consumer behavior in exploitative ways,” Warren writes, while also questioning whether Google would prioritize shopping results from retail partners over competitors.
Warren says the company has already acknowledged that it will “use sensitive data to help retailers convince consumers to buy more ‘premium’ products.” The letter is cited A reply from Google on X In which it was explained that retailers would be able to “show additional premium product options that people may be interested in.”
In addition to a series of questions about user privacy, Warren is seeking information from Google about how user data will impact pricing, as well as whether it will notify users when Gemini suggests a product “based on upselling purposes, advertising incentives, or sensitive user data.” Google has until February 17 to respond.
