Instacart buys Caper AI for smart grocery carts
With the $350 million deal, Instacart looks to integrate smart cart tech into its app.
Rae Hodge Former senior editor
Rae Hodge was a senior editor at CNET. She led CNET's coverage of privacy and cybersecurity tools from July 2019 to January 2023. As a data-driven investigative journalist on the software and services team, she reviewed VPNs, password managers, antivirus software, anti-surveillance methods and ethics in tech. Prior to joining CNET in 2019, Rae spent nearly a decade covering politics and protests for the AP, NPR, the BBC and other local and international outlets.
KroGo by Caper carts in the company's store in Maderia, Ohio.
Instacart is buying Caper AI, maker of smart grocery carts, for $350 million in cash and stock. In a Tuesday release, Instacart said it expects to integrate Caper's technology into not only the Instacart app but also those of its retail partners. The purchase is the latest in Instacart's expansion into retailer platform investments.
Though only deployed in North American retail outlets, Caper makes both smart carts that can recognize items placed in them and smart checkout counters that use cameras and weight sensors to auto-detect items placed on counters.
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