Pinterest AI: 4 New Tools You Need Now

Pinterest Brings AI to Advertisers and Shoppers with Business Assistant, MCP, Performance+ Creative Upgrades, and Ask Pinterest

Pinterest is expanding its AI strategy with tools for both advertisers and shoppers, including Business Assistant, Pinterest MCP, Performance+ creative upgrades, and the experimental Ask Pinterest app. The rollout signals a broader push to make Pinterest a more intelligent commerce and discovery platform, with AI helping brands optimize campaigns and helping users plan more complex shopping journeys.

What Pinterest Announced

According to Pinterest’s Cannes 2026 announcement, the company introduced four major AI-driven initiatives, Business Assistant, Pinterest MCP, a new Performance+ creative model, and Ask Pinterest. Reporting from Social Media Today and MediaPost confirms that these tools are aimed at improving ad performance, workflow integration, and conversational product discovery.

• Business Assistant, an AI collaborator built into Ads Manager for advertisers.
• Pinterest MCP, an AI-native infrastructure layer that connects Pinterest data with outside copilots and agentic tools.
• Performance+ creative upgrades, including dynamic creative selection and improved reporting.
• Ask Pinterest, an experimental app for more conversational, multi-step shopping discovery.

Business Assistant: AI Support for Advertisers

Business Assistant is Pinterest’s new AI tool for marketers, built into Ads Manager and currently available in closed beta for selected U.S. ad partners. Pinterest says the feature acts as an “AI collaborator” that can surface insights, show graphs and charts, and help guide ad creation and optimization.

MediaPost reports that Business Assistant is designed to contextualize performance data, highlight trends, and show top Pins to promote rather than answering with long blocks of text. Pinterest also says the tool is being tested on mobile, where it can send proactive alerts when a style or term is trending.

Pinterest MCP: Connecting Pinterest to External AI Workflows

Pinterest MCP, short for Model Context Protocol, is meant to connect Pinterest data to the copilots and agentic tools advertisers already use. In practical terms, this gives partners a way to access Pinterest campaign, analytics, and keyword insights inside their own AI workflows without switching platforms.

Pinterest says it is shaping MCP with alpha partners such as PMG, Pacvue, Innovid, Dentsu, Havas, and Omnicom’s Jump450. That partner list suggests the company is targeting agencies and enterprise advertisers that rely on integrated planning and reporting systems.

Performance+ Creative Upgrades: Smarter Ad Variation Selection

Pinterest also announced upgrades to Performance+ creative, including a model that evaluates a broader set of creative assets and chooses the variant most likely to perform for each ad impression. In Pinterest’s testing, the company reported a 7.5 percent lift in click volume compared with its earlier single-variant model.

Alongside dynamic creative selection, Pinterest is rolling out new ad review tools and expanded creative reporting breakouts so advertisers can get better feedback on campaign elements. These changes point to a stronger emphasis on automated optimization and clearer performance diagnostics.

Ask Pinterest: An Experimental App for Conversational Shopping

Ask Pinterest is an early experiment focused on conversational, multi-step shopping journeys that do not fit neatly into a single search. Pinterest says the app is meant for tasks like planning a dinner party on a budget, finding a personal gift, or furnishing a room over time.

The company describes Ask Pinterest as a way to test how AI can support richer shopping experiences while preserving context across sessions. Social Media Today notes that the app is currently available only in the U.S.

Why This Matters for Pinterest’s Strategy

Together, these launches show Pinterest moving beyond inspiration and into AI-assisted commerce infrastructure. For advertisers, the company is offering more automation and more direct access to platform intelligence through AI tools. For shoppers, Pinterest is experimenting with a more conversational discovery model that could make planning and product research feel less like keyword search and more like guided assistance.

The broader trend is clear, Pinterest wants AI to shape both sides of its business, marketing workflows on one side and personalized shopping experiences on the other. If these tools gain traction, they could make Pinterest more valuable to brands looking for performance gains and to users looking for more nuanced discovery.

Conclusion

Pinterest’s new AI features, Business Assistant, Pinterest MCP, Performance+ creative upgrades, and Ask Pinterest, show a deliberate shift toward smarter advertising and more contextual shopping. The company is using AI not just to automate tasks, but to connect intent, creativity, and discovery in ways that could reshape how people shop and how brands advertise on the platform.