# Reddit AI Shopping and Chrome Feature Launches

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-02-20

## Transcript

This is TechCrunch.
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On Thursday, Reddit announced that it's testing a new AI search tool that takes community recommendations and matches them with products from some of the company's shopping and advertising partners.
Now, a small group of users in the US will start to see search results that include interactive product carousels with pricing images and direct where to buy links.
The announcement reflects Reddit's broader push to combine its community-driven platform with e-commerce capabilities, i.e., it become a little bit more like Instagram, if you ask me.
Now, the move comes as Reddit launched its first shoppable ad product last year called Dynamic Product Ads, DPA, which display personalized product recommendations to users based on their interests.
Now, when users who are part of the test search for something like best noise canceling headphones or electronic gift ideas for a college student, they'll see a carousel of related products at the bottom of the results.
This carousel will feature products directly mentioned by users from conversations on related posts and comments.
If users tap on the product, they can view more details and then be directed to the retailer to purchase the item.
Of course, as I joked earlier, platforms like TikTok and Instagram have long integrated shopping features.
Reddit's now just following suit.
Of course, Reddit isn't the only tech platform that recently started exploring AI-driven shopping, as OpenAI's ChatGPT rolled out an instant checkout feature last September that lets users make Etsy and Shopify purchases within conversations.
Thursday's announcement comes after Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said during the company's earnings release last week that the platform's AI search engine could be the next big opportunity for its business, not just in terms of product, but also as a revenue driver.
As AI companies and startups push their way into the web browser market, the world's biggest browser, Google Chrome, is rolling out a handful of new features itself.
You see, the company on Thursday announced the official launch of a trio of options, including Split View, PDF annotations, and a Save to Google Drive feature designed to more deeply integrate Chrome with one of Google's other online services.
Now, while these particular additions aren't focused on AI, Google already integrated its Gemini AI assistant into Chrome.
The move was made in response to the increased competition from AI providers like OpenAI and Perplexity, which are dabbling in agentic browsers.
These so-called browser wars have pushed Google to be less stagnant in terms of developing and releasing more consumer-facing features.
Speaking of which, the first one, SplitView, is multitasking in Chrome, become easier as the feature puts two pages side by side in the same tab.
This lets you work across two web pages or watch a video while taking notes, among other things.
To use the feature, you'll drag a tab to the left or right edge of the browser window, or right-click a link and select open link in split view.
The tabs will automatically snap into place.
When no longer needed, you can exit the split view layout via an option found via a right-click.
The other practical addition is the PDF annotations feature, which lets you add notes to a PDF or highlight its text from the browser.
This means you don't have to download the PDF and then open it in another application to work with its content.
The option, a long time coming, could make it much simpler to do basic PDF tasks like digitally signing a document, filling out a form, making notes within a file or personal document, and more.
Finally, the new Save to Google Drive feature will allow you to save any PDF directly to your Google Drive account instead of your computer where it may, you know, get lost.
When using this feature, the saved files will appear in a saved from Chrome folder in your drive, making them easy to find.
Today's update follows the expansion of Gemini and other agentic features to Chromebook users last month.
The race to advance conversational AI in the living room is heating up, with YouTube being the latest to expand its tool to smart TVs, gaming consoles, and streaming devices.
This experimental feature, previously limited to mobile devices and the web, now brings conversational AI directly to the largest screen in your home, allowing users to ask questions about content without leaving the video they're watching.
According to YouTube support page, eligible users can click the Ask button on their TV screen to summon the AI assistant.
The feature offers suggested questions based on the video, or users can use their remote's microphone button to ask anything related to the video.
For instance, they might ask about recipe ingredients or the background of a song's lyrics, or is there an episode of Night Rider airing right now?
And receive instant answers without pausing or leaving the app.
Currently, this feature is available to a select group of users over 18 and supports English, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean.
YouTube first launched this conversational AI tool in 2024 to help viewers explore content in greater depth.
The expansion to TVs comes as more Americans now access YouTube through their television than ever before.
A Nielsen report from April 2025 found that YouTube accounted for twelve point four percent of total television audience time, surpassing major platforms like Disney and Netflix.
Another way YouTube has tried to improve its TV experience with AI is the recent launch of a feature that automatically enhances videos uploaded at lower resolutions to full HD.
Additionally, the company continues to launch other AI features, like a comment summarizer that helps viewers catch up on video discussions, and an AI-driven search results carousel.
In January, the company announced that creators will soon be able to make shorts using AI generated versions of their own likeness.
That's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Aisha Malik Lauren Forestall, Sarah Perez, and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow, same tech time, same crunch channel, and until then find us at TechCrunch.com.