Openai took place Monday is the annual developer daywhere the company implemented a plan to embed the application in ChatGPT. The demo was impressive and showed how you can invoke and discover programs like Spotify and Figma without leaving the ChatGPT window. With so much of the tech world moving toward AI integration, the OpenAI demo was the best image yet of what an AI-powered Internet might actually look like, with interfaces like ChatGPT querying for information and directly executing commands.
If you look closely, you may have noticed that there is a lot of room for money to change hands in this system. Just last week, the company launched Instant Checkout, an agent-based purchasing system that serves as payment infrastructure for one-time purchases, connecting any stores selling through Shopify, Etsy or Stripe. Now applications provide front-end infrastructure, allowing service providers to build their own interface on ChatGPT.
In miniature, OpenAI now has all the elements of AI-powered commerce, establishing ChatGPT as the place where customers buy and retailers sell. This is a huge recent area of activity for the company, with huge implications for the technology industry. In this world, OpenAI competes not only with Google and Anthropic, but also with Amazon and Wal-Mart.
If you look at OpenAI’s pending application partners in the launch announcementyou can see how far the vision reaches. ChatGPT will be able to call you for a cab via Uber, book a trip on Expedia, call a plumber or locksmith via Thumbtack, and order groceries from Instacart, prepared foods from DoorDash, or bulky goods from Target. Without more work, ChatGPT could become a portal for most of its users’ discretionary spending.
If this works, it will be worth much more than just a $20/month subscription. The exact terms of the agreement are still unclear, but like any app store, OpenAI is well-positioned to get a cut of any money spent on its platform. ChatGPT also recommends products based on a wealth of data about its users, further tipping the balance of power between OpenAI and retailers. IN Ben Thompson TermsChatGPT is becoming a super aggregator, driving customers to retailers and providing an entry point for an increasing number of commercial transactions. OpenAI has many potential business directions, but it is not an exaggeration to say that AI-based trading is one of the most profitable options.
OpenAI isn’t the only company considering this prospect. On the same day as the ChatGPT announcement, Adobe released a report predicting that this year’s holidays will be dominated by AI-powered shopping, with shoppers turning to chatbots instead of search engines to find the best deals available. Separate Mastercard report he called agent trade a “new arena of competition” for finance. Google has already launched its own competing agent trading protocol called AP2, which has broader scope but less momentum than OpenAI’s version.
The simplest version of AI-powered shopping uses ChatGPT to find products at the point of search: If you’re looking for canvas tennis shoes under $80, ChatGPT can find them as easily as a Google search. But AI systems don’t have to be passive. The AP2 spec includes a provision for agent-initiated purchases if you want your agent to buy concert tickets as soon as they become available or book a flight as soon as they drop below a certain price. Of course, there may also be agents on the other side of the transaction who are negotiating with purchasing agents for the best deal and are willing to combine goods in the right circumstances. If retailers and customers are willing to take this step, the changes could go far beyond a elementary “buy” button.
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The biggest unanswered question is whether the purchasing public will actually be interested. AI-powered shopping is obviously attractive to OpenAI, and companies like Stripe and Mastercard also see many benefits in it — but users haven’t shown much interest in agent-based shopping systems beyond elementary product searches. But they didn’t have a chance; these systems are not even properly available right now and it will be months before the average user will be able to try out a fully agent-based purchasing system.
When they finally do, much will depend on their reaction.