Instacart launches Clementine AI grocery assistant as rivals add AI shopping tools

According to Instacart, Clementine can generate personalized recipes, surface ideas from trusted publishers, and tailor recommendations for dietary needs such as gluten-free, vegetarian, nut-free or organic options. The assistant also highlights relevant deals and promotions, suggests lower-cost alternatives, and can convert a photo of a handwritten list or screenshot of a digital list into a cart. It is available across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.

Users can ask questions like "I need a week of budget-friendly kids' lunches" or "high-protein, easy dinners for two," and receive recipes with ingredient lists that can be added to the cart with a tap. Clementine builds its answers on items currently available at the user's selected store, so it avoids offering recipes whose ingredients cannot be purchased locally. Engadget noted that Instacart said orders placed with Clementine typically exceed its average basket size of $115, partly because the assistant makes it easy to buy everything it recommends.

CEO Chris Rogers said in an emailed press release: "Every night, millions of families ask the same question: 'What's for dinner?' Not knowing the answer, let alone what to shop for, is one of the most universal human experiences, and a problem Instacart is built to solve. We've spent nearly 15 years learning how families shop and eat, and Clementine puts that knowledge to work."

Instacart is not the only delivery app adopting AI. Uber Eats and DoorDash have introduced similar assistants that turn natural-language requests into personalized carts. Engadget also reported that Instacart has teamed up with tech companies over the past few months to bring grocery integration to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and AI Mode in Google Search.

Also on Wednesday, Shipt, the same-day delivery platform owned by Target, announced "Ask Shipt," a tool that turns prompts into customized ready-to-buy carts. Shipt said users can ask for things like a Saturday tailgate cart for 25 people with brunch items, or easy school lunches and after-school snacks. Users can also upload a photo of a dish, and the assistant will identify and add the ingredients to a cart. Budget-minded requests, such as a weeknight meal for a family of five under $35, are also supported. Ask Shipt is now available in the Shipt app and on Shipt.com.

In a separate development, TechCrunch reported that Instinct, the AI assistant now valued at $2.5 billion, has rolled out dedicated Instinct email addresses. Founder Noah Shinn said the addresses allow the agent to create and run its own accounts without cluttering users' inboxes, helping with tasks such as contacting a restaurant about a special request, asking a business about availability, or signing up for a service. The bot can be forwarded email threads, added to group conversations, and will act autonomously until it needs user input. Instinct has recently partnered with 1Password for account logins, added location sharing to help find nearby businesses, and integrated with Stripe for payments and bookings.