Albertsons Expands OpenAI Partnership to Bring Safeway Shopping Experience to ChatGPT

Albertsons Cos. is expanding its partnership with OpenAI to integrate AI into both internal operations and customer-facing experiences across its 2,200+ stores. The retailer serves over 36 million customers weekly across brands including Safeway®, Vons®, and Jewel-Osco®, and is leveraging ChatGPT Enterprise and the OpenAI API to streamline workflows and enhance decision-making.

New Safeway Experience in ChatGPT

A key component of this expansion is the new Safeway experience in ChatGPT, which helps users move from a dinner idea to checkout. Shoppers can start with a recipe, photo, or simple request like "Plan pizza night for four," and ChatGPT will surface relevant products, apply savings, and build a cart, directing customers to Safeway to check out. This feature is planned to expand beyond Safeway to other Albertsons brands, including Albertsons, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, ACME, and Tom Thumb.

Internal Operations and Data Insights

Internally, Albertsons is using ChatGPT Enterprise to help teams accelerate development and improve decision-making in areas like merchandising and store operations. By combining predictive models with generative AI via the OpenAI API, the company aims to deliver explainable, data-driven recommendations and promotional insights. This approach allows merchants to evaluate business considerations more effectively while helping developers move promising ideas toward production faster.