Artificial Intelligence

PYMNTS covers artificial intelligence as it transforms payments, commerce and financial services, from generative AI and agentic commerce to fraud detection, underwriting and customer engagement. Our reporting pairs breaking news with proprietary data and expert analysis to examine how AI is reshaping business models, operational efficiency and competitive dynamics across the connected economy.
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI Recruits External Watchdogs to Police AI Risk
September 22, 2026

OpenAI is talking with multiple independent assessors to help grow the number of such companies that have expertise in frontier artificial intelligence safety and can provide effective third-party assessments, the company said in a Tuesday (Sept. 22) blog post. OpenAI said this while outlining its...

Artificial Intelligence
Meta Tests Human Callers for Muse After Merchants Hang Up on AI
September 22, 2026

Meta tested having human contractors handle some calls for the phone-calling feature of its personal artificial intelligence assistant Muse, Reuters reported Tuesday (Sept. 22), citing internal company posts and a Meta spokesperson. Meta began this test after some users of Muse reported that companies that...

Artificial Intelligence
Crocs Puts One AI Agent in Charge of Sales and Service
September 22, 2026

A shopper looking for a birthday gift for a nephew opens a chat on Crocs.com, asks for ideas, checks whether a size will fit and wants to know how to return it if it doesn’t. Until this year, that meant bouncing between a product page,...

Artificial Intelligence
SpaceXAI’s Grok Bot Gains Early Traction in AI Agent Push
September 22, 2026

SpaceXAI’s Grok Bot surpassed 400,000 weekly users about a month after its launch, offering an early measure of demand for the company’s push into artificial intelligence agents, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (Sept. 22). Grok Bot reached 418,000 weekly users as of Sept. 14, up 24% from...

Artificial Intelligence
Anthropic Cuts AI Processing Costs 40% With Opus 5.5 Debut
September 22, 2026

Anthropic said its new Claude Opus 5.5 represents a “major step up” from Opus 5 and costs 40% less to run than Opus 5 on typical workloads. “It’s the new leading model, and early testers saw large jumps in performance on their most complex work,”...

Artificial Intelligence
Anthropic Alumni Startup Sees Valuation Jump Fivefold
September 22, 2026

Mirendil, an artificial intelligence startup founded by former Anthropic researchers, is in talks to raise new funding at a $5 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Kleiner Perkins is in talks to lead the round, which could bring in up to...

Artificial Intelligence
Meta Adds PayPal to Muse AI Assistant for Global Checkout
September 22, 2026

PayPal partnered with Meta on agentic shopping, PayPal said in a Tuesday (Sept. 22) post on social platform X. “We’re excited to partner with [Meta] to enable PayPal customers to seamlessly shop and check out using their [Muse] personal AI agents across PayPal merchants worldwide,”...

Artificial Intelligence
Tech Firms Mark Down AI Products to Compete With OpenAI and Anthropic
September 22, 2026

With their customers worn down by pricing shifts, software/cloud companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Figma are reportedly offering artificial intelligence (AI) discounts. That’s according to a report Tuesday (Sept. 22) by The Information, which said these markdowns are happening as customers are growing more selective...

Artificial Intelligence
Heidi Lands $340 Million to Push Healthcare AI Beyond Notetaking to Action
September 22, 2026

Heidi raised $340 million in new funding to expand the capabilities of its AI Care Partner for clinicians and to support its growth, the company said in a Tuesday (Sept. 22) press release. The new funding includes a $100 million Series C funding round led...