The startup is spinning out of Flagship Pioneering, a venture capital firm based in Cambridge, Mass., which is providing the initial financing. (The Logic)

Talking point: Extuitive uses data on clients’ products drawn from their Shopify stores to generate ads that are designed to appeal to pools of likely buyers. Then it runs those spots by its AI agents, which are meant to mimic consumer profiles, like city-strolling bankers or parents who work in education. The startup claims its technology creates ads that convert better into sales. Small direct-to-consumer brands have seen the effectiveness of their social media marketing drop in recent years, after Apple made changes to what apps can track on its devices. Shopify has responded with new customer-finding tools and by tying up with platforms like TikTok, Snap and Spotify. Extuitive plans to expand beyond AI ads to software that will generate and test new product ideas and designs.