Instacart Launches Clementine AI Assistant to Build Grocery Carts

Instacart is pushing generative AI deeper into grocery commerce with Clementine, a conversational assistant designed to help customers plan meals, manage budgets and select products before checkout. The move matters because delivery platforms are seeking influence earlier in the purchasing journey, competing to become the interface where consumers decide what to buy rather than merely the service that fulfills an already completed shopping list.

Instacart launched Clementine on Sept. 9, 2026, making it available through the Instacart Marketplace in the U.S. and Canada. The assistant can turn a conversation, recipe or grocery list into a personalized, ready-to-buy cart within seconds. Instacart also expanded Cart Assistant, a retailer-branded product built on the same underlying technology. The company’s network spans more than 2,200 retail banners and nearly 100,000 stores across North America.