Michaels introduces an AI-powered shopping assistant, “Ask Mike,” to support customers shopping online. The company says the tool is built using Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience. Michaels positions Ask Mike as a way to deliver real-time, personalized creative guidance, helping shoppers find relevant arts and crafts products beyond basic keyword filtering. Retail Dive reports that the assistant is intended to move users past simple search and recommendation approaches, providing more tailored guidance as shoppers browse. PYMNTS also describes Ask Mike as delivering real-time, personalized recommendations and notes that Michaels announced the launch in a news release dated July 21. Together, the outlets describe the same product: a customer-facing AI assistant integrated into Michaels’ online shopping experience, powered by Google Cloud technology and designed to provide customized support to shoppers during product discovery.