Google Launches AI Universal Cart, Partners with Amazon, Meta & Microsoft on E-commerce Protocols

At the 2026 Google I/O Developer Conference, Google announced new progress in AI e-commerce, launching two protocols: UCP and AP2. UCP acts as a universal language protocol for agent e-commerce (similar to HTTP for the World Wide Web) and is open-source, with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce and others joining. AP2 is an agent payment protocol that helps users control AI payments, such as setting monthly spending limits and verifying payments.

Based on these two protocols, Google launched the Universal Cart feature, which will be available on Google Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail this summer. Users can add items to the cart while searching for products, watching videos, chatting with Gemini, or reading emails. They can also track deals, check price history, and set restock alerts. Additionally, the cart can intelligently check purchase compatibility—for example, if your CPU and motherboard models don’t match, it will alert you and suggest alternatives.