EBay acquires AI companies
EBay has bought several AI companies as it prepares for its growing role in online retail, EBay's CEO Devin Wenig said. AI is the "future of commerce" and EBay should be at the forefront of this as leader and disruptor, he said.

As one of the internet's pioneers, eBay' s seen it all. And now, it has a plan to stay relevant for years to come and even be "one of the winners," the CEO told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

"We are planting the seeds right now to ensure that eBay is not only relevant, but a leader — a disruptor — in artificial intelligence," CEO Devin Wenig said on Thursday.

"Some of the acquisitions we've done are world class teams of both data analysts and engineering capability that are going to allow us to use this incredible data set that we have."

Wenig said eBay hopes to build a personalized shopping experience based on data they have on how people browse their site.

"I think it's the future of commerce," he said.

Shares of eBay bounced almost 11 percent on Thursday, one of the best daily performances since October 2015, when the stock gained nearly 14 percent.

The company reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 43 cents per share, adjusted, on sales of $2.23 billion on Wednesday, beating Thomson Reuters consensus expectations of 42 cents per share on revenues of $2.17 billion.

Another thing that had investors cheering — a $2.5 billion stock repurchase authorization from eBay's board, despite what Wenig called a "disciplined" approach to capital allocation overall.

Wenig said that, despite being the former CEO of Thomson Reuters Markets, he isn't too hot or cold on short-term market moves. Instead, he's tracking eBay's transition to accelerate long-term growth — a plan that has made progress, but has yet to turn a corner, he said.

"Right now, we like where we are," Wenig said.