Yahoo Mail’s new AI features can save you time and money — here’s how

Yahoo Mail icon on a phone home screen — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Yahoo has announced a new AI-enabled "Shopping Saver" feature for its Mail app that keeps track of unused gift cards, vouchers and store credit lying in user's email inboxes to help them save money.

In a statement released today, Monday, August 28, Yahoo announced it’s expanding its AI beta experience for Yahoo Mail.

Aside from the money saver, the email service’s search bar is becoming more intuitive; it won’t only rely on keywords. Now users can ask their inbox direct questions about their old emails as if they were using a typical search engine. Wondering how much you spent on groceries last week? Simply ask Yahoo Mail and it will find out for you.

A writing assistant is also being introduced. It can draft suggested replies written in your voice, identifying appropriate tones via context clues from existing email chains to best suit the conversation (e.g. professional or casual). The beta expansion increases the available tones from two options to an unlimited offering, allowing the user to choose their desired tone like urgent, grateful, or apologetic. Think of this as ChatGPT for email.

“We’ve introduced a full suite of tools on Yahoo Mail to help users save time and money, making strides towards an assistive inbox,” said Senior Vice President and General Manager of Yahoo Mail Josh Jacobson.

With nearly half of U.S. adults having at least one unused gift card, gift voucher or store credit, Yahoo believes its Shopping Saver can help its users make every dollar count. Yahoo Mail will be able to draft suggested messages to vendors to help apply those savings after a purchase has been made.

“In total, US consumers have $23 billion in unused gift cards and credits, and we hope our new tools will help users gain a fraction of that back in their wallets,” said Jacobson.

Yahoo says its Shopping Saver and other features are available for Yahoo Mail’s AI beta experience that opened to iOS users earlier this year. In preparation for a public release, the beta expands across both iOS and web browsers. To join the beta, you can sign up here.

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Christoph Schwaiger is a journalist, mainly covering AI, health, and current affairs. His stories have been published by Tom's Guide, Live Science, New Scientist, and the Global Investigative Journalism Network, among other outlets. Christoph has appeared on LBC and Times Radio. Additionally, he previously served as a National President for Junior Chamber International (JCI), a global leadership organization, and graduated cum laude from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands with an MA in journalism. You can follow him on X (Twitter) @cschwaigermt.