Warren Sounds the Alarm on Google's New AI Shopping Partnerships

Warns partnership's data-sharing threatens privacy, could lead to collusion, exploitative pricing for consumers

"I am deeply concerned that Google could use its AI shopping partnerships to increase profits for Google and its business partners at the expense of consumers' best interests."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Google CEO Sundar Pichai with concerns over Google's new retail shopping partnerships and plan to integrate its artificial intelligence (AI) model, Gemini, into its shopping services.

"I am concerned that these partnerships and Google's integration of Gemini into its shopping service could allow Google and its retail partners to exploit sensitive user data to violate consumer privacy and manipulate consumers into spending more and paying higher prices," said Senator Warren.

On January 11, 2026, Google announced new partnerships with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, Walmart, and other retailers to implement a new AI standard termed the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), allowing AI agents at different retailers "to talk to each other across every step of the shopping journey." As part of the new partnerships, Google plans to integrate UCP into Gemini, allowing users to shop through the Gemini chatbot or through Google Shopping's Gemini feature. The partnerships will allow businesses to present individualized offers for shoppers based on their Google account data.

"Google already possesses unprecedented troves of user search and AI chat data, and such intimate data could be merged with both user data from other Google services and third-party retailer data to drive consumer behavior in an exploitative manner," said Senator Warren.

For example, Google could take advantage of sensitive health or financial data to convince vulnerable customers to spend more or to purchase a product from one of Google's partners instead of a competitor. Google has already admitted it will use sensitive data to help retailers upsell consumers.

"I am also concerned that Google and its retail partners' AI agents could leverage user data to display personalized prices, adjusting the price to the highest amount a user is likely to pay…Google's UCP could also result in tacit collusion between retailers to raise prices, as AI agents are given an implicit goal of maximizing profits for their respective platform," wrote the senator.

Senator Warren also raised concerns about the amount and types of user data that will be shared between Google and third-party retailers. Google has told retailers that its AI agent will have access to users' accounts and "independently plan, reason, and act on [the retailer's] behalf, under [the retailer's] supervision." Yet, Google has indicated it plans to hide consumers' ability to choose which retailer data is shared with the AI agent "in the consent screen shown to the user."

"Online shoppers have a right to clear explanations on how prices are determined, which products are shown to them, and whether their private data is being used to exploit them," said Senator Warren.

Senator Warren asked Google to clarify what consumer data it will provide to retail partners; how sharing consumer data will affect customized pricing and offers for users; whether users will be informed if they're being upsold on a product; what options users have to opt out of personalized recommendations or upsells; whether Google will give retail partners' products preference while demoting competitors; and what guardrails Google will implement to ensure AI agent pricing is not deceptive, predatory, discriminatory, or exploitative; by February 17, 2026.

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