Pinterest Bets on Open Source AI to Cut Costs and Fuel Visual Commerce Growth
Pinterest is doubling down on open source AI models as a strategy to manage expenses while expanding its capabilities in visual AI, according to comments made by the company’s CEO on Tuesday. The image-based revelation platform, a frequent starting point for consumers beginning their shopping journeys, is increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence to power features ranging from personalized recommendations to its new AI-powered assistant.
The move comes as investors scrutinize Pinterest’s potential in the emerging field of agentic commerce – AI systems capable of autonomous action on behalf of users – and its impact on future growth. this scrutiny intensified following a revised revenue forecast for the upcoming holiday season.
during its third-quarter earnings declaration, Pinterest predicted a weaker-than-anticipated holiday shopping period, attributing the downturn to tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump and their effect on the home furnishings market.consequently, the company now projects fourth-quarter revenue between $1.31 billion and $1.34 billion, slightly below the average analyst estimate of $1.34 billion. The news triggered a more than 21% drop in Pinterest’s stock price on Wednesday.
despite these short-term concerns, Pinterest’s leadership is confident in its ability to leverage AI and large language models (LLMs) without significant cost increases. The company routinely evaluates both proprietary and open source AI models,and early testing has yielded promising results.
“One of the really, really captivating things that we’re seeing is that we are just getting tremendous performance from open source models specifically for Pinterest use cases on visual AI,” a senior official stated during the earnings call. “Given current market rates and per token costs, in early testing, we’re seeing orders of magnitude reduction in cost with comparable performance using fine-tuned open source models versus leading off-the-shelf proprietary models.”
The company intends to integrate numerous open source models across its various applications, achieving significant cost savings compared to relying solely on larger AI providers. “We feel really good about the value that we’re bringing to the user there, our ability to align that with monetization, and our ability to control those costs and deliver that effectively,” the official added.
Pinterest is also exploring the potential of agentic shopping, building on its existing “push-button buying” functionality thru its partnership with Amazon. Though, the company is taking a measured approach, waiting to gauge consumer demand for fully automated purchasing.
For now, Pinterest believes its strength lies in guiding users through the shopping experience, a capability it aims to enhance with the Pinterest Assistant. This AI companion offers personalized advice and recommendations based on a user’s boards, saved items, and preferences, drawing comparisons to users with similar tastes. The platform is also introducing AI-curated personalized boards, blending the expertise of human curators with the power of artificial intelligence.
Hear’s a news report answering the “Why, Who, What, and How” questions:
Why: Pinterest is shifting its AI strategy to open-source models to reduce costs and maintain profitability amid investor scrutiny and a weaker-than-expected holiday revenue forecast. The company aims to leverage AI for visual commerce without considerably increasing expenses.
Who: Pinterest, led by its CEO and senior officials, is making this strategic shift. Investors and consumers are also
