OpenAI has partnered with Stripe to enable direct purchases within ChatGPT.
ChatGPT users in the US can now buy products from Etsy businesses during chats, with plans to expand this feature to over a million Shopify merchants soon. Currently, it supports single-item purchases, with multi-item carts anticipated in future updates.
According to OpenAI, this marks a significant advancement in agentic commerce, allowing ChatGPT to facilitate purchases seamlessly. Users can transition from chat to checkout with just a few taps, offering sellers a new avenue to reach a broad audience while maintaining control over payments and customer relationships.
This feature, known as Checkout in ChatGPT, utilizes the new Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), co-developed by Stripe and OpenAI. To make a purchase, users can request product recommendations, and when ready, they can complete the checkout within the chat interface powered by Stripe.
Once the buyer selects a payment method, Stripe generates a Shared Payment Token (SPT), allowing transactions without exposing payment credentials. This token is merchant-specific and once created, ChatGPT transmits it to the merchant via API for transaction processing.
Kevin Miller, head of payments at Stripe, stated, “Stripe has spent the last 15 years optimizing commerce for human buyers. Now, we are starting to do the same for agents.”
OpenAI and Stripe aim to create a common framework for businesses and AI agents by open-sourcing the ACP, enabling merchants to sell through AI while retaining control over their systems and customer interactions.
“ACP provides the standardization needed for businesses to engage in agentic commerce while preserving customer relationships and current systems,” the companies noted.
Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that Google recently introduced its Agent Payments Protocol, partnering with over 60 companies, including Adyen, Coinbase, Mastercard, and PayPal, to compete in this evolving landscape.