OpenAI Challenges Big Tech with Agentic AI Shopping Experience
OpenAI Unveils Instant Checkout: A New Era for AI-Powered Shopping
OpenAI is reshaping the landscape of online shopping with its latest feature: Instant Checkout within ChatGPT. This move enables U.S. ChatGPT users to directly purchase from Etsy and, soon, over a million Shopify merchants—all without ever leaving their AI chat conversation.
How Instant Checkout Works
Available to ChatGPT Pro, Plus, and free logged-in users in the U.S., the new Instant Checkout lets shoppers:
- Discover products, images, reviews, and prices in response to their queries (e.g., "What should I get my friend who loves ceramics?")
- Tap "Buy" to confirm orders, shipping, and payment details inside the chat
- Pay securely using Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe, or credit card
This frictionless process eliminates the need to bounce between tabs or websites, creating a seamless shopping experience powered by conversational AI.
The New E-commerce Gatekeepers?
Traditionally, Google and Amazon have dominated retail discovery and online commerce. With this new system, OpenAI positions ChatGPT as a potential power broker, curating recommendations and facilitating sales within its own ecosystem. This shift could reduce reliance on search engines and established e-commerce giants, transferring influence over what products are discovered and how fees are set.
OpenAI’s Agentic Approach & Open Protocols
OpenAI also announced it will open-source its underlying Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)—the technology powering Instant Checkout and built with Stripe. This allows other merchants and developers to integrate agentic checkout into their own platforms, furthering the adoption of AI-driven commerce.
According to Stripe’s president of technology and business, Will Gaybrick, "Stripe is building the economic infrastructure for AI... creating new AI-powered experiences for billions of people." Merchants handle orders, payments, and fulfillment using their existing systems, with ChatGPT acting purely as a secure intermediary.
Competing Protocols & Industry Implications
OpenAI is not alone in this space. Competitors like Perplexity and Microsoft have launched similar in-chat shopping or storefront features. Meanwhile, Google has responded with its own open protocol for AI-initiated purchases, the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). This signals an industry-wide race to define the future of AI-driven commerce and control how consumers discover and buy products online.
What Merchants and Shoppers Should Know
- Product results in ChatGPT are "organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance to the user," according to OpenAI.
- Merchants are charged only a small fee for completed purchases, potentially lowering costs compared to traditional marketplaces.
- With the ACP open-sourced, more businesses can easily integrate AI-powered shopping experiences.
As conversational AI becomes the new storefront, both brands and consumers should watch closely. The balance of power in online retail is shifting, with agentic AI poised to become the next big disruptor.
