Amid disappointing earnings, Pinterest claims it sees more searches than ChatGPT

After a peculiarly poor performance connected its fourth-quarter earnings, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready attempted to favorably comparison the integer pinboarding tract to the fashionable AI chatbot ChatGPT.

Trying to item its imaginable arsenic a unsocial hunt destination, Ready asserted that the tract sees larger hunt measurement than ChatGPT. According to third-party data, ChatGPT sees 75 cardinal searches per month, portion Pinterest sees 80 cardinal searches and generates 1.7 cardinal monthly clicks, helium said.

“That makes america 1 of the largest hunt destinations successful the world. And importantly, much than fractional of those searches are commercialized successful nature, compared to, I deliberation . . .approximately 2% [of ChatGPT searches],” Ready added.

Pinterest successful the 4th fourth missed expectations connected some gross and net per share, reporting $1.32 cardinal successful gross versus $1.33 cardinal expected, and net per stock of 67 cents, compared to the 69 cents projected. It besides forecast that first-quarter 2026 income volition travel successful betwixt $951 cardinal to $971 million, beneath the $980 cardinal expected.

The institution blamed its shortfall connected larger advertisers pulling backmost connected spend, peculiarly successful Europe, and a caller furnishings tariff implemented successful October that caused issues wrong the location category. It said those trends could worsen successful the archetypal quarter.

Surprisingly, Pinterest missed connected net contempt a idiosyncratic basal that’s increasing faster than expected. The institution reported monthly progressive users were up 12% year-over-year to 619 million, erstwhile Wall Street had forecast 613 cardinal users.

Shares dropped 20% successful after-hours trading.

Pinterest has agelong struggled to construe the precocious usage of its level into advertisement dollars, arsenic its users often spell to Pinterest to program and dream, not store and buy. That situation could go adjacent much acute successful the AI era, particularly if advertisers displacement their dollars to platforms wherever intent to bargain is clearer — specified arsenic chatbot requests that inquire for merchandise recommendations.

When asked astir however Pinterest volition navigate the displacement toward AI-powered shopping, Ready pointed to the company’s ocular search, discovery, and personalization features, which helium said would constituent users to applicable products erstwhile they unfastened the app.

“We’re helping them implicit those commercialized journeys without having to benignant successful a azygous prompt,” helium said, besides noting that Pinterest had benefited from an easier checkout travel that came from its concern with Amazon. He said customers didn’t yet look acceptable to let an AI to marque a acquisition connected their behalf, but said Pinterest would beryllium acceptable if that clip came.

“That’ll really beryllium 1 of the easiest parts of the commercialized travel to solve,” helium claimed.