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OpenAI challenges Google and Amazon with its innovative agent-driven shopping platform

OpenAI challenges Google and Amazon with its innovative agent-driven shopping platform

Bitget-RWA2025/09/29 20:51
By:Bitget-RWA

ChatGPT users in the United States are now able to shop on Etsy and Shopify directly within their conversations, signaling a significant move toward the next generation of online shopping. This development impacts both shoppers and the platforms that manage product discovery, recommendations, and payment processing. Essentially, OpenAI could be shifting the balance of power in the e-commerce landscape.

The newly launched “Instant Checkout” feature from OpenAI is accessible to ChatGPT Pro, Plus, and Free users who are logged in and purchasing from Etsy sellers based in the U.S. According to OpenAI, support for over a million Shopify stores—including brands like Glossier, Skims, Spanx, and Vuori—will be added soon.

Instant Checkout expands on ChatGPT’s earlier shopping tools, which provided users with tailored product suggestions, images, reviews, prices, and direct links to sellers in response to queries such as “what should I buy for a friend who loves ceramics?” or “which sneakers are best for the office?” Now, instead of leaving the chat, users can simply select “Buy” to finalize their order, shipping, and payment details—using Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe, or credit cards—to complete their purchase within the conversation.

Last year, Perplexity rolled out a comparable feature that enabled shopping and payments within chat. Microsoft has also introduced in-chat storefront capabilities for merchants through its Copilot Merchant Program.

This seamless shopping experience could usher in a new era for online retail, moving away from traditional search engines like Google and e-commerce giants like Amazon, and toward conversational AI agents that offer curated suggestions, product comparisons, and streamlined checkout processes.

Such changes are paving the way for new influential players in the e-commerce sector. For years, Google and Amazon have dominated as the primary gateways for product discovery. If more purchases begin within AI chatbots, the companies behind these bots could gain greater influence over which products are promoted and what fees or commissions are imposed.

Historically, both Amazon and Google have used their market power to prioritize their own products or favored partners, sometimes pushing competitors lower in search rankings or charging sellers high fees for visibility. OpenAI has stated in a blog post that its product listings are “organic and unsponsored, ranked solely based on relevance to the user,” and that merchants will pay a “small fee” for each completed transaction.

TechCrunch has contacted OpenAI to request additional details.

In addition to unveiling in-chat checkout, OpenAI announced it will open source its Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)—the technology behind Instant Checkout, developed with Stripe—so that other merchants and developers can implement agentic checkout solutions.

“Stripe is creating the financial backbone for AI,” said Will Gaybrick, Stripe’s president of technology and business, in a statement. “This involves redesigning today’s commerce infrastructure and building new AI-driven experiences for billions of users.”

While some users may hesitate to share payment details with ChatGPT, the company clarifies that all orders, payments, and fulfillment are managed by the merchant using their own systems. ChatGPT simply acts as a facilitator, securely transmitting information between the buyer and the seller.

By open sourcing ACP, it becomes simpler for merchants to connect with ChatGPT, encouraging broader adoption of AI chatbots as virtual storefronts. This move also increases OpenAI’s potential role as a gatekeeper for product discovery and checkout, possibly positioning the company as a central figure in the AI-driven commerce ecosystem.

This development could once again put OpenAI in competition with Google, which has recently introduced its own open protocol for AI-initiated purchases, called Agent Payments Protocol (AP2).

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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

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