OpenAI launches Instant Checkout to enable in-chat purchases

OpenAI has launched Instant Checkout, a feature that lets users make direct purchases within ChatGPT. The initial rollout applies to US Etsy sellers, with Shopify merchants to follow.

The system is powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol, which OpenAI co-developed with Stripe, and currently supports single-item purchases. Future updates will add multi-item carts and expand to more regions.

According to OpenAI, product results in ChatGPT are organic and ranked for relevance. The e-commerce framework will be open-sourced to accelerate integrations for merchants and developers. Users can pay using cards already on file, and transactions involve explicit confirmation steps, scoped payment tokens, and limited data sharing to build trust.

Michelle Fradin, OpenAI’s product lead for ChatGPT commerce, said the goal is to move beyond information retrieval and support real-world actions. Stripe’s president for technology and business, Will Gaybrick, described the partnership as laying economic infrastructure for AI.

Merchants will pay a small fee on completed purchases, while users are not charged extra and product prices remain unchanged.

Reuters reported that Etsy and Shopify’s stocks rose significantly following the announcement, with Etsy closing up nearly 16 percent and Shopify more than 6 percent. The company plans to extend the system to more merchants and payment types over time.

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