New PayPal, OpenAI deal means customers can buy directly on ChatGPT

PayPal is teaming up with OpenAI so users can buy goods directly through the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT.

The agreementmeans that PayPal users will be able to purchase items through an instant checkout system and that sellers on PayPal can complete transactions on ChatGPT.

Alex Chriss, PayPal’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement that the company will create an experience where people can go from “chat to checkout in just a few taps”.

Users will also have access to PayPal’s wallet feature in instant checkout, including access to their bank, balance and cards, the statement said. Through OpenAI, PayPal users will also be able to track their purchases and file dispute claims.

For vendors who are interested in selling, PayPal said it will manage “merchant routing, payment validation, and orchestration,” behind the scenes so that “millions” of products will be available to buy on ChatGPT.

OpenAI has already started moving into the e-commerce market with the launch of “Buy it in ChatGPT,” an initiative that lets all users in the United States buy directly from Etsy sellers.

OpenAI said inSeptember that deals with “over a million Shopify merchants,” such as beauty company Glossier, Kim Kardashian’s lifestyle brand SKIMS, underwear brand Spanx and clothing store Vuori, are coming soon and with multi-item shopping carts.

OpenAI also made their “Agentic Commerce Protocol,” the source code they used to create the shopping cart, available in open source so developers could also work on it.

PayPal has also announced shopping deals with Googleand Perplexity in recent months to create AI shopping experiences.