OpenAI has introduced a groundbreaking direct purchasing feature within ChatGPT, allowing the platform’s 700 million weekly users to shop through conversational interactions. This Instant Checkout system, developed in collaboration with Stripe, marks a pivotal advancement in transforming AI assistants into full-fledged commerce platforms while establishing a new open standard for agentic payments. This story was originally published on eamvisiondirect.com.
Conversational Commerce Becomes Reality
ChatGPT users across the United States can now make purchases directly within their conversations using a newly implemented “Buy” button. When users pose shopping queries such as “top-rated running shoes under $100,” ChatGPT delivers relevant product recommendations from across the internet, organized by relevance rather than paid placements. The functionality is available to all logged-in users regardless of subscription tier—free, Plus, or Pro.
OpenAI’s official announcement highlights the system’s emphasis on user control throughout the purchasing journey. “Users explicitly confirm each step before any action is taken,” the company emphasized. Payment processing utilizes stored card information or other express options, while merchants manage fulfillment through their existing infrastructure. The initial implementation features Etsy sellers, with plans to integrate over a million Shopify merchants including prominent brands like Glossier, SKIMS, and Spanx in the near future.
Agentic Commerce Protocol: The Technical Backbone
The Instant Checkout capability is powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), an open standard co-developed by OpenAI and Stripe to define how AI agents and businesses interact during commercial transactions. The protocol enables merchant participation without requiring complete overhauls of existing payment systems, preserving their involvement throughout the entire customer journey including fulfillment, returns, and support processes.
According to Stripe’s technical documentation, merchants already utilizing Stripe can activate agentic payments with minimal coding requirements—potentially requiring just a single line of code. Those using alternative payment processors can integrate through Stripe’s Shared Payment Token API or adopt ACP’s Delegated Payments specification without changing providers. This approach distinguishes itself from competing standards by prioritizing merchant control and leveraging existing infrastructure.
Security remains a cornerstone of the protocol’s design, with payment tokens being encrypted and authorized exclusively for specific merchants and transaction amounts. “Only the minimum data necessary to complete a transaction is shared with merchants,” OpenAI confirmed. As we previously reported on eamvisiondirect.com, the protocol’s architecture incorporates feedback from multiple merchants and aims to function across diverse platforms, processors, and business models.
Competing Standards in the AI Payment Arena
OpenAI’s ACP enters an increasingly competitive landscape for AI payment protocols. Earlier this month, Google unveiled its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) developed in partnership with over 60 collaborators including American Express, Mastercard, PayPal, and Salesforce. While both protocols seek to standardize how AI agents securely complete purchases, they employ different strategic approaches.
ACP focuses on maintaining merchant control through existing payment processors, whereas AP2 concentrates on establishing shared guidelines across the broader digital payments ecosystem. Google’s protocol introduces “Mandates”—cryptographically signed digital contracts serving as verifiable evidence of user instructions. These create an auditable trail connecting user requests to final transactions, supporting both immediate purchases and delegated transactions that might occur later without direct user supervision.
For more detailed coverage of emerging AI commerce trends, visit our original publication on eamvisiondirect.com.