Pinterest CEO Credits AI-Powered Personalization for 16% Revenue Growth

Pinterest reported strong first-quarter results on Thursday (May 8), with $855 million in revenue and a 10% year-over-year increase in monthly active users to 570 million.

According to a Thursday (May 8) press release, revenue increased by 16% year over year.

Speaking on an earnings call, CEO Bill Ready attributed the growth to the company’s investment in artificial intelligence (AI), noting that the algorithm has been especially successful at attracting Generation Z users.

“Our ability to leverage AI to personalize our users’ experience is a key differentiator and has enabled us to find our best product market fit in years,” Ready said.

“The ability for users to explore their interests visually and take action on them is one of our core differentiators and an important reason why users come to our platform in the first place,” he added. “This is especially relevant for Gen Z, our largest and fastest growing user cohort, who have been raised on an internet of visual content across images and video and who find utility in the ability to search visually.”

The CEO also said that the company is “doubling down” in 2025 on visual search capabilities, powered by multimodal AI models.

“Leveraging this enhanced multimodal technology, we are unlocking a new level of personalization for our users,” Ready said.

Pinterest is not alone in its shift toward visual search engines.

As PYMNTS reported in December, startup Aesthetic launched into the AI-powered clothing recognition field, adding to the competition of see-now-buy-now fashion AI technology.

The field has seen more investment as social media platforms move to add shopping features. Besides Pinterest, Google has partnered with retailers to integrate its Lens technology directly into their apps, PYMNTS wrote at the time.

“Aesthetic’s technology lets users search with screenshots or photos, analyzing an image to identify specific clothing items and matching them to similar products,” PYMNTS reported. “Unlike broader visual search tools, the company says it focuses exclusively on fashion, training its AI to recognize details like necklines, sleeve lengths and fabric patterns.”

Pinterest announced earlier this week that it was expanding its visual search features to the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, enabling users to search for personalized women’s fashion content.

“The new tools let users find what they’re searching for without using words, by breaking down and decoding images so users can quickly search and shop for the details of an outfit they like,” according to a PYMNTS report.