eBay Unveils Agentic AI to Revolutionize Online Shopping

In a bold move that marks a transformative phase for the e-commerce giant, eBay has integrated advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools into its platform, fundamentally reshaping the experience for employees, sellers, and buyers. During its quarterly earnings call on February 26, 2025, company executives shared how these innovations are setting the stage for a new era in online commerce.

Harnessing eBay's Rich Data with Proprietary LLMs

eBay has effectively leveraged decades of e-commerce data to develop its own large language models (LLMs) from scratch. CEO Jamie Iannone highlighted that this technology has been tailored to accomplish specialized tasks with unprecedented efficiency. The company also pre-trained leading open source models on its dataset to enhance their performance on unique eBay scenarios. By the end of 2024, this concerted effort enabled eBay to introduce dozens of features powered by these LLMs—spanning buyer and seller experiences, search functions, payments, marketing, and niche categories.

Transformative Impact Across eBay's Platform

The integration of AI has ushered in a series of improvements across the board:

• Enhanced Search Results: AI-driven algorithms have refined search outcomes, making product discovery faster and more precise.
• Seller Empowerment: Tools now assist sellers in generating product listings, enhancing images, and automating social media postings, thereby streamlining the sales process.
• Buyer Experience: Intelligent recommendations help buyers discover and shop for products more efficiently, tailoring suggestions to individual preferences.
• Operational Productivity: From engineering to customer service, AI tools have boosted productivity and overall efficiency.

Pioneering the Agentic Approach to Online Commerce

In January 2025, eBay took a significant leap forward by partnering with OpenAI's Operator—a sophisticated AI agent capable of navigating the web autonomously. This innovative collaboration aims to redirect users to eBay listings and potentially create a new channel for product discovery. Iannone described this agentic method as a promising frontier for expanding seller reach and increasing the online visibility of eBay's diverse inventory.

Expanding Payment Options and Service Offerings

Beyond AI, eBay has also diversified its payment methods to better serve a global audience. Notable developments include:

• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): Following a successful launch in Germany, Klarna’s BNPL option was extended to six additional European countries.
• Monthly Invoice Payments: A new partnership with Riverty now enables German buyers to pay via monthly invoices.

These initiatives underscore eBay's commitment to offering locally relevant and diverse payment solutions that drive conversion and optimize its payment mix.

Broadening Horizons with Strategic Acquisitions

eBay's acquisition of Caramel, an online automotive transaction solution provider, is set to deepen its presence in the collectible car market. By integrating Caramel's expertise, eBay is poised to:

• Enhance Trust in Vehicle Purchases: Improving transaction reliability for vehicle sales.
• Expand Geographic Reach: Facilitating online vehicle purchases across all 50 states.
• Drive Cross-Category Synergies: Leveraging the buying habits of vehicle purchasers, who often invest in parts, accessories, and other non-motor items on the platform.

This strategic move not only streamlines the vehicle purchase process but also capitalizes on eBay’s opportunity to drive synergies across different product categories.

Overall, eBay's robust adoption of AI and its strategic partnerships are paving the way for a more integrated and intuitive online shopping experience, setting a precedent for the future of digital commerce.