These AI Apps Are Learning To Shop, Pay And Decide For You

The

artificial intelligence boom is real. While the fear of Anthropic’s Mythos AI is rising, China’s biggest tech companies are rapidly expanding AI-powered super-apps to make lives easier. These apps can simply choose, buy and deliver products on behalf of users, as per The Economist. The shift is happening in 2026 as companies like Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance are coming up with their agentic AI through apps like Taobao, WeChat and Douyin to dominate what many can say as the next phase of China’s internet economy.

AI Is Becoming China’s Personal Assistant

As per the publication, users in cities like Shanghai can directly ask the AI apps to order meals, coffee, transport or shopping items with just voice or text commands. For instance, an AI assistant selected and delivered a rose-petal-vinegar-flavoured coffee after being asked to choose a ‘special coffee’. Despite such unusual outcomes, AI is becoming a part of China’s citizens. Reportedly, more than 600 million people in the country have already used some form of AI agent services. For those who are not aware, AI agents are the tools that work on the behalf of the users without much human intervention.

China’s Internet Is Entering A Third Phase

Reportedly, the online world in China grew over the last two decades. In the early era, users relied on Baidu for web searches after Google left the country. As of now, smartphones have been pushing users toward ‘super-apps’ that combine messaging, shopping, payments and entertainment into one platform. Apps like WeChat, Taobao and Douyin are becoming central to daily life.

Are There Any Super-apps In India?

Unlike China’s WeChat, India does not have a super-app as of now. However, the various Indian platforms are trying to become super-apps by combining payments, shopping, travel, entertainment and services into a single ecosystem. Notably, the gap lies as India does not have such AI agents of its own.

Still, India could move closer to AI-driven super-app ecosystems in the next few years, especially as companies integrate AI assistants into commerce, payments and daily services. The next battleground may not be one app for everything but one AI assistant that quietly connects everything behind the scenes.