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Whatnot Acquires Shaped to Boost AI-Powered Recommendations in Livestream Shopping

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Livestream shopping platform Whatnot has announced its acquisition of Shaped, a machine learning company known for real-time recommendation and search systems, on Wednesday. This strategic move aims to enhance Whatnot's discovery and personalization capabilities amid its expanding marketplace.

  • Whatnot intends to tackle the challenge of helping shoppers find products as inventories and buyer demand fluctuate in real time.
  • Emmanuel Fuentes, VP of Data and AI at Whatnot, highlighted the importance of speed in the recommendation process, given the dynamic nature of live commerce.
  • Whatnot has already reduced recommendation latency significantly and plans to make it almost real-time by integrating Shaped's technology.
  • Shaped, founded by Tullie Murrell, has worked with companies like Outdoorsy and QVC, blending customer data with large language models for personalized experiences. Murrell and his team will join Whatnot to form the Applied AI Research group.
  • Since its founding in 2019, Whatnot has grown rapidly, completing over 1 billion orders and recently raising $225 million in Series F funding, with a valuation surpassing $11 billion. The platform has also expanded into over 80 categories amid rising competition from resale giants integrating AI.