The AI Record
We expect this leverage to be partially offset by the ramp up in our use of third-party AI models. This reflects a deliberate choice to prioritize company-wide adoption over cost optimization at this stage. This investment is contributing to cost efficiency across many other expense lines (customer service, for example) as well as helping us to generate incremental revenue (in Acquiring and Advertising, for example).

Mercado LibrePublished by the organization itself (regulatory filing), no named author

Regulatory filing: MercadoLibre, Inc. Q1 2026 results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), SEC EDGAR, May 7, 2026, at Costs and expenses, Product Development.

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Checked against the source by a first reader, then confirmed independently by a second reader who fetched the source without seeing the first reader's notes (Independent review agent (Claude Sonnet), blind second pass from passage text and citation only, no repository access, 2026-11-04).

Exact match in Exhibit 99.1.

How to cite this passage

Mercado Libre, “MercadoLibre, Inc. Q1 2026 results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)”, SEC EDGAR, 2026-05-07, at Costs and expenses, Product Development. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1099590/000109959026000014/meli-20260507xex991.htm Archived at https://the-ai-record.com/passages/mercado-libre-ramp-up-our-use-third-party-ai-2026

More from the same source

Product Development expenses also scaled, falling from 9.3% of revenue in Q1’25 to 7.9% in Q1’26. This reflects the deceleration in headcount growth, and the increasing use of AI among our engineers. Gains in productivity mean that we intend to keep engineer headcount broadly stable in 2026

Mercado LibrePublished by the organization itself (regulatory filing), no named author

Regulatory filing: MercadoLibre, Inc. Q1 2026 results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), SEC EDGAR, May 7, 2026, at Costs and expenses, Product Development.

  • 7.9% product development expense share of revenue, Q1 2026

Checked against the source [ Grade A ] Said in the last year Passage page

Productivity gains across our technology teams are among the most tangible results of our AI investment. Headcount grew 8% YoY in Q1’26 – a carryover effect of 2025 hiring – but productivity KPIs are growing 7-10x faster. Many of our most senior engineers that were previously spending most of their time reviewing code are now also building code because of the productivity gains enabled by AI tools. Rollbacks – code that is returned to its developer due to errors – are materially lower YoY.

Mercado LibrePublished by the organization itself (regulatory filing), no named author

Regulatory filing: MercadoLibre, Inc. Q1 2026 results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), SEC EDGAR, May 7, 2026, at To our Shareholders, Artificial Intelligence.

  • 8% headcount growth yoy, Q1 2026 vs Q1 2025

Checked against the source [ Grade A ] Said in the last year Passage page

More broadly, we have rolled out Claude Cowork to 31,000 employees, making Mercado Libre one of the earliest, large-scale enterprise adopters globally.

Mercado LibrePublished by the organization itself (regulatory filing), no named author

Regulatory filing: MercadoLibre, Inc. Q1 2026 results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), SEC EDGAR, May 7, 2026, at To our Shareholders, Artificial Intelligence.

  • 31,000 people employees with claude cowork, as of Q1 2026. AI assists a person

Checked against the source [ Grade A ] Said in the last year Passage page

We rolled out our first AI-powered search experience in our marketplace in Q1’26, shifting the architecture away from keywords and rebuilding it around LLMs. In Brazil and Mexico, the improvement in product relevance led to uplifts in conversion and click-through-rate for sponsored listings, both of which represent incremental revenue. These are early results, which we believe have the potential to transform how our customers search and discover products on our platform.

Mercado LibrePublished by the organization itself (regulatory filing), no named author

Regulatory filing: MercadoLibre, Inc. Q1 2026 results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), SEC EDGAR, May 7, 2026, at To our Shareholders, Artificial Intelligence.

Checked against the source [ Grade A ] Said in the last year Passage page

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