PayPal just locked in a first-mover advantage in AI commerce that sent its stock surging 13% in a single day. The payments giant signed an exclusive weekend deal with OpenAI to embed PayPal's wallet directly into ChatGPT, making it the first major payment platform integrated into the AI tool's shopping experience. With ChatGPT's 700 million weekly users now able to buy items through AI recommendations, PayPal is positioning itself as the payments backbone for what CEO Alex Chriss calls "agentic commerce."
PayPal just grabbed pole position in the AI commerce race, and Wall Street noticed. The company's stock rocketed 13% Tuesday after CNBC exclusively reported PayPal's weekend deal with OpenAI to integrate its digital wallet directly into ChatGPT.
The timing couldn't be better. While competitors scramble to figure out AI payments, PayPal CEO Alex Chriss just handed his company a massive head start. "We've got hundreds of millions of loyal PayPal wallet holders who now will be able to click the 'Buy with PayPal button' on ChatGPT and have a safe and secure checkout experience," Chriss told CNBC.
The deal, sealed over the weekend and launching early next year, works both ways. PayPal users can purchase items through ChatGPT's AI recommendations, while PayPal merchants get their inventory listed directly in the platform. That's a double win for PayPal's ecosystem - more buyers and more sellers, all flowing through PayPal's payment rails.
OpenAI has been quietly building its e-commerce empire. Last month, the company announced partnerships with Shopify and Etsy merchants. Two weeks ago, it signed a major deal with Walmart. But PayPal represents something different - a payments infrastructure play rather than just merchant partnerships.
"It's a whole new paradigm for shopping," Chriss said. "It's hard to imagine that agentic commerce isn't going to be a big part of the future." He's betting on AI assistants becoming personal shoppers for ChatGPT's 700 million weekly users, finding and recommending products like a human assistant would.
The competitive dynamics are fascinating. Stripe got to market first with its Link product for OpenAI's Instant Checkout feature, but there's a catch. Stripe's Link can't store funds and lacks a consumer mobile app, leading fintech experts to question whether it's really a full wallet competing with PayPal's established platform.
