OpenAI just fired the opening shot in what could become the next great tech war. The company's new Instant Checkout feature lets ChatGPT users buy products from Etsy and over a million Shopify merchants without ever leaving their conversation. This isn't just a convenience upgrade - it's a direct challenge to Google and Amazon's stranglehold on how people discover and buy products online.
OpenAI is betting that the future of shopping doesn't involve typing into search boxes or scrolling through endless product grids. Instead, it's banking on conversations - and today's launch of Instant Checkout puts that vision into practice.
ChatGPT users in the US can now ask "what should I get my friend who loves ceramics?" and not only get curated recommendations, but actually buy those products without leaving the chat. The feature works with US-based Etsy sellers immediately, while major Shopify merchants like Glossier, Skims, and Spanx are "coming soon," according to OpenAI's announcement.
The mechanics are surprisingly smooth. Users can tap "Buy" directly in their ChatGPT conversation, choose from Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe, or traditional credit cards, and complete the purchase. OpenAI says orders and payments flow through merchants' existing systems - ChatGPT just acts as a secure intermediary.
But this isn't just about convenience. It's about power - specifically, who controls product discovery in the age of AI. Google and Amazon have spent decades becoming the default starting points for online shopping. Google captures intent through search, while Amazon owns the entire purchase funnel. Both have faced scrutiny for leveraging their dominance to favor their own products or preferred partners.
OpenAI claims its approach is different. "Product results are organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance to the user," the company states, while charging merchants only a "small fee" for completed purchases. Whether that philosophy survives contact with OpenAI's eventual need to monetize ChatGPT at scale remains to be seen.
The competitive stakes just got higher with OpenAI's decision to open-source its Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). Built with Stripe, the protocol makes it easier for any merchant to integrate conversational checkout. "Stripe is building the economic infrastructure for AI," Will Gaybrick, Stripe's president of technology and business, said in a statement. "That means re-architecting today's commerce systems."
