Google’s New Tech Lets AI Agents Handle Checkout

Google wants AI agents to do more than answer questions. It wants them to complete purchases as well.

On Sunday, the company unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference. The protocol is designed to let AI agents handle discovery, checkout, and what happens after buying inside conversational interfaces. 

In practice, that means agents can move users from interest to purchase without jumping between multiple systems along the way.

UCP is designed to eliminate one-off integrations between different AI assistants during a single buying journey, replacing bespoke connections with a common setup agents can rely on across platforms and services. 

Google plans to integrate the protocol into eligible product listings in Google Search’s AI mode and Gemini apps. Users will be able to complete purchases without leaving the conversation, using shipping and payment details stored in Goo