OpenAI Partners with Stripe to Develop Agentic Payment

The capabilities of AI systems are expanding, as OpenAI unveils a new checkout system inside ChatGPT that allows users to finalise purchases directly within the chat window.

Named Instant Checkout, the feature will first roll out to users in the US across the platform's free, Plus and Pro versions.

So what does this new functionality entail and what are its implications for the industry?

Instant checkout: growth so far

Through collaborations with Etsy and Shopify, the OpenAI system will initially feature items from Etsy before it expands to include more than a million merchants on the Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify.

Well-known brands such as cosmetics firm Glossier, shapewear maker SKIMS and activewear label Vuori are also getting ready to participate.

When a user makes a shopping-related query, ChatGPT presents a list of products ordered by relevance.

For any product that is compatible with Instant Checkout, a user can select ‘buy’, verify their order information and finalise the transaction within the chat.

Currently, OpenAI reports that ChatGPT has 700 million weekly users who employ it for various tasks, including the discovery of products.

“Orders, payments and fulfillment are handled by the merchant using their existing systems,” OpenAI says.

“ChatGPT simply acts as the user’s AI agent – securely passing information between user and merchant, just like a digital personal shopper would.”

Agentic commerce: where does Stripe come in?

The foundational technology was created by OpenAI in collaboration with payments processor Stripe and has been made available as open-source software.

This Agentic Commerce Protocol provides a technical framework defining how AI systems can manage transactions between customers and companies, ensuring merchants retain control of payment processing and their customer relationships.

Furthermore, the protocol is compatible with various payment processors and diverse business models.

Once a user finalises a purchase, the protocol is used by ChatGPT to send the order details to the merchant's backend.

From there, the merchant can accept or reject the order, handle the payment via their usual provider and arrange fulfilment using their established systems.

Merchants who currently process payments via Stripe can enable the functionality with just a single line of code. Businesses that rely on other payment processors can join by using Stripe’s Shared Payment Token API or by implementing the Delegated Payments Spec contained in the protocol.

“Stripe is building the economic infrastructure for AI,” says Will Gaybrick, President of Technology and Business at Stripe.

“That means re-architecting today’s commerce systems and creating new AI-powered experiences for billions of people.”

While merchants are charged a fee for each finalised sale, the feature is free for users and has no impact on the price of products.

If a user asks a shopping query such as: “best running shoes under US$100” or “gifts for a ceramics lover”, ChatGPT will display the most suitable products available online.

OpenAI says Instant Checkout availability does not influence product ranking in search results, with product results remaining “organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance to the user.”

The future of instant checkout 

Initially, the service only supports the purchase of single items.

Future updates are planned to include shopping carts for buying several items at once, alongside an expansion of participating merchants and availability in more regions.

The company has already released technical documentation and is now accepting applications from merchants who wish to offer their products via the system.

Users are required to give their confirmation at every stage before any action is taken.

To ensure security, payment tokens are encrypted and only authorised for specified merchants and amounts with the user's consent. Data sharing is also restricted to only the information necessary for completing an order.

Will says Stripe is “proud to power Instant Checkout in ChatGPT and co-develop the Agentic Commerce Protocol to help businesses and AI platforms build the future of commerce.”