OpenAI just turned ChatGPT into a one-stop grocery store. The company's new Instacart integration lets users brainstorm dinner ideas, build shopping lists, and complete purchases without ever leaving the chat window - marking another aggressive push into AI-powered commerce that could reshape how we shop online.
OpenAI just made grocery shopping as simple as asking a question. The company's latest ChatGPT integration with Instacart creates a seamless shopping experience where users can brainstorm meal ideas, generate grocery lists, and complete purchases without switching between apps.
The timing isn't coincidental. This partnership deepened significantly after former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo - already an OpenAI board member - joined the AI company as CEO of Applications in May. Her move signals how seriously both companies view the intersection of AI and commerce.
This isn't their first collaboration. More than two years ago, Instacart launched an AI search tool powered by ChatGPT that helped shoppers navigate dietary restrictions and meal planning. But this new integration represents a complete commerce experience within ChatGPT itself.
The move fits squarely into OpenAI's broader "agentic commerce" strategy - using AI to handle shopping research and purchases on users' behalf. At its recent developer day, the company showcased plans to build apps directly into ChatGPT, launching integrations with Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow. Since then, partnerships with Target and Intuit have expanded the ecosystem.
The holiday shopping season has become a testing ground for AI-assisted commerce. Both OpenAI and Perplexity rolled out shopping features designed to help users find specific products based on detailed criteria. Adobe's research suggests AI-assisted online shopping will grow 520% this holiday season.
For OpenAI, commerce integrations represent a crucial revenue opportunity. Despite ChatGPT's massive popularity, the company isn't profitable and may not be for years. The compute power required to run its models is so expensive that subscription fees barely cover costs. These shopping partnerships let OpenAI take an undisclosed "small fee" from merchant sales - though it would take enormous transaction volumes to meaningfully impact the company's finances.
