Friday, 16 October 2026

Payments & Fintech

Google makes Universal Cart available to US users across Search and Gemini

Universal Cart lets users collect and monitor products they find across Search and the Gemini app. Google says the cart can help shoppers stay on top of deals and availability. Checkout runs through Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard for AI agents and retailers.

NoteCheckout is the step to watch for payments teams. It runs on UCP, an open standard designed to help AI agents and retailers work together.

Source: TechCrunch·Share

Banking & Lending

U.S. Bancorp has not encountered third-party AI cash-sorting agents

On the third-quarter call, CEO Gunjan Kedia said the bank has not encountered third-party AI cash-sorting agents. Kedia said the logistics are “very complicated” and that the bank does not expect a near-term impact. Average deposits increased 2.9% year over year.

2.9%Average deposits, year over year

NoteKedia pointed to the bank’s own digital tools for deposit pricing. He put outside cash-sorting agents beyond the near term.

Source: PYMNTS·Share

★Top story: Rules & Regulators

Bank of England's Breeden says hackers or hostile nations are the chief concern with advanced AI

Sarah Breeden, deputy governor of the Bank of England, said the chief concern is hackers or hostile nations weaponizing advanced AI models. The comments were made at the Institute of International Finance annual meeting in Bangkok.

NoteFor bank technology teams, the speech points past prevention to recovery of core services. It also names rogue AI agents as a regulatory concern.

Source: PYMNTS·Share

★Top story: Models & Labs

NYC comptroller asks Anthropic to delay its IPO and focus on safety

Mark Levine, New York City’s comptroller, is calling on Anthropic to delay its initial public offering. In an Oct. 14 letter, he says the company should prioritize “the myriad safety concerns surrounding AI threats.” He asks Anthropic to disclose how it will implement audits and controls, with a projected timeline.

NoteThe letter cites news reports that Anthropic’s draft S-1 filing includes 80 pages of risk disclosures. For IPO watchers, the open question is whether the audit and control timeline Levine asks for will come before the offering.

Source: PYMNTS·Share

Models & Labs

Meta has launched Muse Spark Open, which it calls the most capable open-weight model in the US

Muse Spark Open has 816 billion parameters and a 1 million token context window. Meta claims superior performance to other popular open-weight models, according to its evaluation results. The model is designed to run locally on Apple’s computers, and Meta is making it available through a number of API platforms.

NoteRunning the model locally needs a lot of power. Banks may find the open weights more useful for testing than for production.

Source: TechCrunch·Share