It looks like OpenAI has found another way to make users rely on ChatGPT. According to an announcement shared this week, the company is expanding the options you have available in its AI chatbot to allow you to more easily purchase goods directly from your chats.
From now on, a new kitchen utensil or pair of shoes you asked ChatGPT about could just be a click or two away from shipping to your home. According to the blog post shared on Monday, OpenAI claims that over 700 million people turn to the AI chatbot for help with their everyday tasks. With over 2.5 billion prompts coming in each day, it’s really no surprise that some use the chatbot to help them find new products.
So, of course, it makes sense for OpenAI to take its shopping assistance once step forward and give ChatGPT users the ability to make purchases from within the app. Enter “Instant Checkout,” a new system that has been built in partnership with Stripe, Etsy, and Shopify.
How ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout works
OpenAI says that Instant Checkout will leave users in complete control. You’ll need to explicitly confirm each step before any action is taken, and because it has been developed in partnership with Stripe, the payments are secure and encrypted. The company also claims that data sharing with companies is going to remain minimal, with only the required information being shared with merchants.
OpenAI also revealed the Agentic Commerce Protocol that powers Instant Checkout orders. Essentially, users will search for and find the items they want. Then, when pressing “Buy” and confirming their payment and shipping details, the AI feeds that information to the merchant, while ChatGPT generates shipping options for buyers to choose from.
ChatGPT will then calculate the total price based on tax and shipping information before confirming payment. If the customers choose not to buy, then they can back out of the transaction easily. If they do continue, the system will generate and gather a secure payment token, send the order and payment information the merchant, who then either accepts or declines the order. Considering how quickly Google is expanding Gemini, we certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see similar functionality arrive in its AI chatbot soon, too.
Rollout of the feature is limited for now, at least in terms of the shops and sites that support it. As more companies embrace AI, it’s likely we’ll start to see even more options for purchasing products through different chatbots. We might even see OpenAI eventually expand Instant Checkout into ChatGPT Pulse, promoting new products that might interest users based on their chat history.
