OpenAI is taking a bold leap into e-commerce with its new push toward AI-driven commerce, a move that could dramatically reshape how people shop online — and who they buy from.
At its annual Dev Day event, OpenAI unveiled a major upgrade to ChatGPT that transforms the chatbot into a hub for interactive apps and transactions. The integration allows users to interact with services like Spotify, Figma, or Expedia without ever leaving the ChatGPT window — marking a pivotal step toward an AI-first internet experience.
Just a week earlier, OpenAI introduced Instant Checkout, an agentic shopping feature that enables seamless payments through Shopify, Etsy, or Stripe. When combined with the new in-app capabilities, ChatGPT is now positioned as both a storefront and a sales platform — essentially building the foundation for AI-driven commerce at scale.
“We’re entering an era where ChatGPT isn’t just answering questions — it’s facilitating entire shopping journeys,” said an OpenAI spokesperson.
If successful, this strategy could pit OpenAI directly against e-commerce giants like Amazon and Walmart, as well as search leaders Google and Anthropic. Instead of visiting multiple websites, users could simply ask ChatGPT to find, compare, and even purchase products — from ordering groceries via Instacart to booking travel through Expedia or Uber.
The potential revenue opportunity is massive. Like Apple’s App Store, OpenAI can take a percentage of in-platform transactions while simultaneously recommending products using its vast user data — giving it a super-aggregator advantage.
Industry experts say this model could redefine online shopping. A report from Adobe predicts this holiday season will be dominated by AI-powered shopping tools, while Mastercard has labeled agentic commerce “a new competitive arena” for financial technology.
Google, meanwhile, is testing its own framework for autonomous shopping agents called AP2, though analysts suggest OpenAI has the early lead thanks to ChatGPT’s massive user base of over 800 million weekly users.
However, the big question remains: will consumers embrace AI-assisted shopping? While early interest is high, real-world adoption will depend on how intuitive and trustworthy the systems feel. Once users get hands-on experience with fully autonomous purchasing tools, their response could determine whether OpenAI AI-driven commerce becomes the next big retail revolution — or just another tech experiment.