Coupe. Sedan. Pickup. SUV. Crossover. Tractor trailer. Body type.

So the second part of the title is completely irrelevant and misleading because it implies that they are literally inflating prices by 40% using AI right now.

This isn’t talking about price gouging. Or at least, not that second part of the title. The full quote is:

“when customers engage with Sparky, their average order value jumps 40%.”

This is talking about ignorant customers getting talked into adding more to their order than they originally planned, by an AI that is designed to encourage people to buy as much as possible. Walmart isn’t changing the price of products that are ordered through the AI tool.

Still shitty behavior but it’s just another marketing tool and marketing has been finding ways to influence customers to buy more things since the dawn of time.

A far more concerning quote from the article for me would be:

Walmart has filed a patent for technology that can unmask anonymous cell phone data after a single store visit, then track where shoppers live, how they commute to work, and what restaurants they frequent

I thought it was an enjoyable meme and I’d never have seen it on Reddit since I don’t go there anymore. To each their own. 🤷‍♂️

He only has the power to do that for the executive branch. He can’t compel citizens or corporations to follow along - not with the law anyway. He is getting away with it because the people whose pockets he’s lining are happy to play along as long as number goes up. That’s all they care about.