Artificial intelligence has increasingly become an integral part of online shopping experiences. Recent ventures by OpenAI and Stripe are further integrating AI into payment processes.

Harnessing ChatGPT’s Capabilities

American users of ChatGPT can now purchase items directly from Etsy or Shopify without leaving the platform. After engaging with the AI to refine their search for a product, they can finalize and pay for their orders via methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe, or credit cards.

Building Agentic Commerce Infrastructure

In collaboration with OpenAI, Stripe is developing an open-source Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). This initiative aims to facilitate the integration of AI agents throughout the shopping journey for both merchants and consumers.

The agentic commerce movement has gained momentum recently. Perplexity, for instance, now enables its Pro subscribers to make payments directly within their chats using PayPal or Venmo, a similar model adopted by ChatGPT and Stripe.

Addressing Security Concerns

Despite the advantages, concerns about errors, fraud, and data security persist. Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) uses mandates to verify AI adherence, providing an additional layer of security. In the ChatGPT and Stripe model, OpenAI emphasizes that all payments are managed by merchants through existing systems, with ChatGPT merely acting as a data relay.

Data privacy and bias in interactions remain key issues. While OpenAI claims its results are organic and unbiased, users question potential product steering towards certain marketplaces.