Toronto · Montréal EN FR
AI and operations, built on real processes
AI this week · Week 46 · Nov 9 to Nov 15, 2026

Google puts the checkout in Gemini, businesses arrive in ChatGPT, and Visa tests AI shoppers

Google opened checkout in Gemini in Canada, and OpenAI let businesses claim a profile in ChatGPT. A Visa test found AI shopping agents still fail many tasks.

Watch the video See the sources
83 seconds, captions on. English. Read the transcript.

By AI this week 1 min read

Shoppers in Canada can now buy inside Gemini, one item at a time. OpenAI opened Businesses in ChatGPT in beta, with no checkout. In a Visa test of 22 AI models, a little over half of the shopping runs passed.

The sources behind the video

Each card matches one story in the video. Use the time stamp to jump to the claim.

  1. Google the latest tech company to expand shopping through AI agents in Canada

    The Globe and Mail · 4 Nov 2026

    Why a CEO cares: Shoppers in Canada can now buy without a visit to the store's website. So the facts a store publishes do part of the selling.

  2. Introducing Businesses in ChatGPT

    OpenAI · 10 Nov 2026

    Why a CEO cares: A business can now claim its profile and add product feeds in ChatGPT. There is no checkout in this announcement.

  3. Visa Releases First-of-Its-Kind Industry Benchmark for AI Shopping: Almost Half of Test Runs Fail

    Visa · 5 Nov 2026

    Why a CEO cares: In Visa's test, more than half of the failed runs still ended in a purchase. Visa sells payment tools for agents.

  4. Google Put the Checkout Inside the Chat. Your Product Facts Are Now the Shelf.

    inocta.io · 10 Nov 2026

    Why a CEO cares: Our field note starts with a store's ten best sellers in December and what an agent will read on each one.

Read the transcript

This week, AI moved closer to the payment. Google put buying inside its AI, OpenAI brought businesses into ChatGPT, and Visa tested the agents.

Shoppers in Canada can now buy inside Gemini and Google's AI search mode. The first stores are Lululemon, Shoppers Drug Mart, Simons and some Shopify merchants. It is one item at a time, and the shopper approves each purchase. The sale can skip the store's website.

OpenAI opened Businesses in ChatGPT, in beta. A business can claim its profile, add product feeds with prices, and see how often ChatGPT mentions it. Business agents start with some online businesses in the United States. There is no checkout yet.

Visa tested 22 AI models on 15 shopping tasks. A little over half of the runs passed. In more than half of the failed runs, the agent still bought something. Visa sells payment tools for agents, and says consistency and reliability remain challenges.

Our field note on Google's checkout starts with a store's ten best sellers in December. It lists what an agent will read on each one.

The checkout is moving into the chat faster than the agents are getting reliable. The facts a store publishes now do part of the selling. Sources are on inocta.io.

Get the next field note by email. Subscribe to The Signal

Keep reading

All of the Lab
Field note

Your Judgment Is Your Company's Bottleneck. Can AI Write It Down?

McKinsey proposes an "executive AI" that captures how a leader decides, so others can apply it. What we learned writing our own judgment down.

Mo Kahlain7 Dec 20264 min Read the note Field note

The Most Expensive Thing Your AI Says Is "That's Great!"

In a 2,400-person trial at BT Group, an AI built to challenge produced three and a half times more excellent goals. What it means for a smaller company.

Mo Kahlain4 Dec 20264 min Read the note Field note

Before your AI remembers everything, ask what the memory is for

A new study measures AI memory against the task it serves. We learned the same lesson running our own AI agents. What it means for a growing company.

Mo Kahlain2 Dec 20264 min Read the note Field note

When only the AI raises the alarm, people stop looking

AI alerts help a team see more. They can also teach people to wait for the alert. What reliable organizations learned, and what we changed.

Mo Kahlain1 Dec 20264 min Read the note Field note

I Built a Team of AI Agents. Then I Became the Bottleneck.

Fourteen AI agents work in our operations, and the consequential steps still wait for one person. What HBR and new research say, and what we are changing.

Mo Kahlain19 Nov 20265 min Read the note Field note

How we make the company progress with humans and machines aligned

Process is not a binder. It is one shared picture of the work that helps people pass it on, AI take hold and a buyer see a company that runs.

Mo Kahlain11 Nov 20266 min Read the note Field note

Google Put the Checkout Inside the Chat. Your Product Facts Are Now the Shelf.

Since November 4, Canadians can buy inside Gemini. The protocol behind it reads what a retailer publishes, so product facts come first.

Mo Kahlain10 Nov 20265 min Read the note Field note

AI is helping build better AI. Business learning needs to keep pace

METR finds that AI now speeds up AI research at one major lab. What that means for a company that adopts AI against a baseline that keeps moving.

Mo Kahlain9 Nov 20266 min Read the note
Stay in touch

Three ways to reach us.

A person reads every message.

Talk to a person Contact us Tell us where you are. We will tell you what we would look at first, and what it would take. Start a conversation Machine to machine Have your agents talk to us Your AI can read this site and reach us directly. Read the agent docs
Newsletter Subscribe to The Signal Field notes from the work, sent only when there is something worth reading.

Unsubscribe in one click, and the address goes nowhere else. Privacy policy