Artificial Intelligence shopping assistants fueled a Black Friday online spending surge as United States shoppers, wary of crowds and tariffs, turned to chatbots for the best deals.

U.S. consumers shattered online spending records on Friday, with Adobe Analytics, which tracks e-commerce reporting $11.8 billion in sales, a 9.1 per cent year-over-year jump that even slightly surpassed the company’s own estimate of $11.7 billion.

Online traffic surged nationwide between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., with consumers spending $12.5 million per minute. According to Adobe, mobile shopping accounted for over half of all sales.

On Thanksgiving Day alone, online spending hit a record $6.4 billion, driven by strong sales of video game consoles, electronics, and home appliances.

Black Friday shattered online sales records, showcasing a massive surge in consumer spending.

While Salesforce tracked a staggering $79 billion in global digital sales, Shopify merchants alone hauled in a record $6.2 billion.

The shopping frenzy hit a breathtaking pace of $5.1 million per minute at its peak, fueled by high demand for cosmetics and apparel.

This strong holiday spending is expected to continue through the weekend.

Adobe forecasts that U.S. online sales will reach $5.5 billion on Saturday and $5.9 billion on Sunday, before peaking at a record-breaking $14.2 billion on Cyber Monday.