TikTok announced AI shopping and advertising tools at Advertising Week New York 2026, including Buy Direct, Shopping Assistant, and Agentic Leads.

It also introduced TikTok Ad Network to US advertisers.

TikTok is building the commerce products with partners including Shopify, Salesforce, and Stripe.

Buy Direct lets users buy from brands in the app. Shopping Assistant is a conversational AI tool that gives product guidance.

TikTok Ad Network extends ad campaigns beyond TikTok to nearly 400,000 apps worldwide, the company said.

TikTok also announced updates to search and creative automation, and said it plans to improve GMV Max, its automated ad product for TikTok Shop sellers.

TikTok previously launched an audience network for ads on third-party apps in 2019.

An external analysis found that US spending through TikTok Shop surpassed Target’s.

The Supreme Court rejected TikTok’s challenge in 2025, and a 2026 law review article discussed forced divestiture.

Meta’s business help documentation also describes changes to Shops and Checkout.

🔗 Source: TikTok

Recent TikTok developments