Instacart and Target-owned Shipt launch competing AI grocery shopping assistants on the same day

Instacart launched Clementine and Shipt launched Ask Shipt — AI assistants that turn chats, lists, photos, budgets, or recipes into ready-to-buy carts — joining Uber Eats and DoorDash in a race to become shoppers' default meal-planning tools.

Two grocery delivery platforms announced AI shopping assistants in announcements published by TechCrunch on September 9, 2026. Instacart launched Clementine, a conversational assistant that converts conversations, grocery lists, photos of handwritten lists, or recipes into ready-to-buy carts. It generates personalized recipes, tailors recommendations to dietary needs such as gluten-free and vegetarian (with nut-free also listed), and surfaces deals and lower-cost alternatives; it is available in the US and Canada. The same day, Shipt — the same-day delivery platform owned by Target — announced Ask Shipt, an assistant that converts text prompts, budget constraints, and uploaded dish photos into customized shopping carts; it is available now in the Shipt app and on Shipt.com and builds on AI features Target.com has separately added, such as photo search and review summaries. Both launches follow similar 2026 AI assistant launches from Uber Eats and DoorDash, as delivery apps compete to become households' default meal-planning tools. The two reports do not disagree on any facts.

• Instacart launched Clementine, an AI grocery shopping assistant (TechCrunch report dated 2026-09-09).
• Clementine turns chat conversations, grocery lists, photos of handwritten lists, or recipe requests into purchasable carts.
• Clementine generates personalized recipes, tailors recommendations to dietary preferences including gluten-free, vegetarian, and nut-free, and surfaces deals and lower-cost alternatives.
• Clementine is available in the US and Canada.
• Shipt, the same-day delivery platform owned by Target, launched Ask Shipt (TechCrunch report dated 2026-09-09).
• Ask Shipt converts text prompts, budget constraints, and uploaded dish photos into customized shopping carts.
• Ask Shipt is available now in the Shipt app and on Shipt.com.
• Ask Shipt builds on AI features Target.com has separately added, such as photo search and review summaries.