Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is pressing Google for more information about its plans to build a checkout function into its Gemini AI chatbot. In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Warren expresses concerns that the integration could allow Google and retailers to “exploit sensitive user data” or “manipulate consumers into spending more and paying higher prices.”
Last month, Google announced that it would soon allow users to buy products directly in Gemini through 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 kinds — Google plans to provide to retailers through this channel.
“Google already has unprecedented access to AI user search and chat data, and such confidential data could be combined with both user data from other Google services and data from third-party vendors to drive consumer behavior in an exploitative way,” Warren writes, while also questioning whether Google will favor shopping results from retail partners over competitors.
Warren adds that the company has already admitted it will use “sensitive data to help retailers upsell consumers to buy a more ‘premium’ product.” The letter cites Google’s response to X, which clarifies that retailers will be able to “show other options for premium products that people might be interested in.”
In addition to a series of questions about user privacy, Warren is asking Google for information on how user data will affect pricing, as well as whether it will notify users when Gemini suggests a product “based on upselling goals, advertising incentives, or sensitive user data.” Google has until February 17 to respond.