The Vogue Business AI Tracker keeps a record of the most important AI developments that will influence our industry and our world, each week. From venture capital investments and startup launches to product drops and regulatory updates, we’ll make sure you never miss a beat when it comes to the AI news that matters.
November 18, 2025
The news: Daydream launches AI agent shopping app for iPhone.
Why it matters: Julie Bornstein’s startup Daydream, which describes itself as the “first chat-based AI shopping agent built exclusively for fashion”, is designed to make shopping easier for consumers. Previously only available in beta as a desktop website, Daydream is now launching an iPhone shopping app. It’s chosen to go deep on iOS integration by incorporating Apple’s visual intelligence — the AI-powered feature that allows users to point their cameras at objects and texts to identify them — so that Daydream users can search and shop directly from any screenshot on their phone. In practice, Daydream says this means consumers can screenshot an Instagram post and insert the image into the app to identify and shop featured products, closing the loop between visual inspiration and purchase.
November 11, 2025
The news: Snapchat owner inks deal with Perplexity to introduce AI search.
Why it matters: Snap Inc, the parent company of Snapchat, saw its shares surge up to 16% this week, after announcing a $400 million partnership with Open AI rival Perplexity AI, to integrate its AI search engine within the Snapchat app. From early 2026, Perplexity will appear in the Snapchat Chat interface, so that its nearly one billion monthly active users can ask questions on any topic and yield real-time conversational answers, powered by Perplexity’s generative AI.
The deal opens up a big new revenue stream for Snap, which will charge Perplexity $400 million over the course of a year to access its user base. Perplexity has recently been embroiled in a number of copyright infringement cases, including from News Corp, as well as a recent lawsuit from Amazon over the use of its AI agent to shop on customers’ behalves without their consent. The deal with Snap gives the platform some timely validation. In a statement announcing the news, Snap made clear its AI ambitions, saying: “The partnership underscores Snap’s growing role as a trusted platform for AI partners to reach a large, engaged, mobile-native audience.” Meanwhile, Snapchat will also use the conversations users have with Perplexity to “help enhance personalization on Snapchat”, doubling as a clear in-app ad revenue driver.
