Whatnot, a live shopping company, announced its acquisition of Shaped, a machine learning company founded by a former Meta engineer. Whatnot already leverages AI to power experiences for buyers and sellers on its marketplace platform. Incorporating Shaped’s tech will enable Whatnot to advance recommendations and match buyers to shows faster.
“We believe AI will play a foundational role in the future of live commerce, and some of the most valuable problems ahead of us won’t be solved in a few months: teaching models to understand what’s actually happening in a live video; search that spans everything on Whatnot, from a show that’s live right now to a product listed seconds ago; ranking that helps buyers find relevant shows while supporting marketplace quality, trust and long-term growth,” the Whatnot team wrote in a company blog post. “That’s why this acquisition is a long-term investment in the AI work already underway at Whatnot.”
Shaped’s technology enables real-time ranking systems for recommendations and search. The company’s founder and CEO Tullie Murrell and a team of engineers and researchers will join Whatnot’s applied AI research group. They will work to further the use of AI across the Whatnot platform, starting with enhancing discovery and personalization as the marketplace continues to grow.
