OpenAI has launched a personal finance tool inside ChatGPT, and it goes much further than answering general money questions. Pro subscribers in the US can now connect their bank accounts, investment portfolios, and credit cards directly to ChatGPT through Plaid, giving the AI a live view of their actual financial picture. Over 12,000 financial institutions are supported including Chase, Fidelity, Schwab, Robinhood, American Express, and Capital One.

Once accounts are linked, users get a dashboard showing portfolio performance, spending patterns, active subscriptions, and upcoming payments. From there, the conversation can go anywhere. You could ask ChatGPT whether your spending has changed recently, what is quietly draining your budget, or how to build a realistic plan to buy a house in the next five years, and it works with your actual numbers rather than a generic example.

The feature is powered by GPT-5.5, which OpenAI says is significantly better at reasoning with financial context than previous models. The company also worked with finance experts to build a dedicated benchmark specifically for personal finance questions, so the model has been tested against the kinds of queries real users actually ask.

The timing connects to OpenAI's acquisition of Hiro Finance last month, a personal finance startup backed by Ribbit and General Catalyst. OpenAI confirmed the Hiro team contributed to this launch, though it did not specify exactly how much of the product they built.

The data controls are worth noting. Users can disconnect any account from Settings and once they do, the synced data is wiped from ChatGPT within 30 days. Financial memories can also be viewed and deleted separately from the Finances page.

OpenAI notes that over 200 million people already ask ChatGPT financial questions every month without any account connection. This feature takes that behaviour and makes it actually useful. For now it is limited to Pro users on web and iOS, with a wider rollout to Plus users planned once the product has been tested and refined.

Amazon has launched Alexa for Shopping, a new AI-powered assistant that now lives directly in the Amazon search bar and replaces Rufus, the generative shopping assistant the company introduced in 2024. The upgrade is available now to US customers across mobile, desktop, and Echo Show smart displays.

The difference between the two is evident. Rufus was built around product discovery and comparison. Alexa for Shopping goes further, pulling from your purchase history, preferences, and habits to give answers that actually reflect how you shop. You can ask it something as broad as "what is a good skincare routine for men" or as specific as "when did I last order AA batteries" and it responds with recommendations tailored to you rather than a generic list.

Beyond answering questions, the assistant can track prices, compare products, schedule recurring orders for things like pet food or household essentials, and automatically add items to your cart when the price hits a number you set. That last feature is the kind of thing that sounds small but saves a surprising amount of time for regular Amazon shoppers.

The more controversial addition is the Buy for Me feature, which lets Alexa for Shopping go beyond Amazon's own marketplace and purchase items from other online retailers on your behalf. Amazon has already faced some pushback from smaller retailers who feel the feature undercuts their ability to build direct customer relationships, and the broader conversation around AI autonomy and data privacy applies here too.

Fifteen years after the Chromebook changed how schools and workplaces think about affordable laptops, Google is moving on. The company has unveiled Googlebooks, a new line of AI-native laptops built from the ground up around Gemini, and the biggest names in PC hardware are already on board. Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are all making Googlebooks in various shapes and sizes, with a launch planned for this fall.

The defining feature is something Google is calling Magic Pointer. Instead of a standard cursor that just points and clicks, wiggling the pointer surfaces contextual suggestions based on whatever is on your screen at that moment. Hover over a date in an email and it offers to schedule a meeting. Select two images, say your living room and a new couch, and it lets you visualize them together.

Beyond the cursor, Googlebooks are tightly connected to Android phones. Users can run phone apps directly on the laptop, access their phone's files through the laptop's file browser, and view or insert them without ever touching their handset. There is also a new feature called Create your Widget, which lets users prompt Gemini to build custom dashboards pulling from Gmail, Google Calendar, and the web.

Underneath all of this is a bigger platform shift. Googlebooks run on a new Android-based operating system, not ChromeOS. Google says existing Chromebook devices will continue receiving updates through their support commitments, with some eligible to transition to the new experience.

TikTok has launched TikTok GO, a feature that lets users discover and book hotels, attractions, and experiences directly inside the app. Available now in the US for users 18 and older, it surfaces travel options through videos, search results, and location pages. When something catches your eye, you can check availability and complete the booking without ever opening another tab.

The feature works through partnerships with Booking.com, Expedia, Viator, GetYourGuide, Tiqets, and Trip.com. Creators who feature hotels and experiences in their videos can also connect their content directly to bookings, earning commissions when viewers follow through. It essentially turns a travel video into a live listing.

This is the same strategy TikTok used with TikTok Shop, which launched in the US in 2023 and brought shopping directly into the feed so users could buy products without leaving the app. TikTok GO applies the same logic to travel. The goal is to own the full journey, from the moment someone gets inspired by a destination video all the way through to the booking confirmation.

TikTok has already been eating into Google Search and Google Maps as younger users increasingly turn to TikTok to find places to eat, stay, and visit. Adding the ability to book those same places inside TikTok pushes that competition even further. Booking.com and Expedia, both launch partners, are also direct competitors in the travel space, which makes the partner dynamics here worth watching closely. TikTok needs their inventory to make GO credible, but will be doing its best to own the customer relationship those same companies depend on.

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