OpenAI has been busy. Since its formation, the AI company has been powering through products, inventing ChatGPT, making a web browser, and just about everything in between. And now, announcing the inclusion of PayPal via its ChatGPT tool, this is one of its biggest steps yet.
According to PayPal, you’ll be able to use the digital payment system directly through ChatGPT sometime in the beginning of 2026. This will be built into ChatGPT’s new instant checkout feature, where ChatGPT will present purchase options for items when relevant to a chat.
With the integration of PayPal, you’ll be able to search, find, and pay for items without ever leaving the ChatGPT browsing system. The inclusion of PayPal will mean you won’t even need to add delivery or billing options, and all of your payment options will be in one place.
OpenAI has quickly rolled out a lot of important shopping features on its chatbot. A variety of partnerships with companies like Zillow, Booking.com, and DoorDash allow these companies to pop up on ChatGPT when mentioned, suggesting flights, items for sale, or, with options like Spotify, the ability to make a playlist that matches your prompt.
ChatGPT also recently got a buy now button powered by OpenAI’s agentic commerce protocol. This lets companies on Etsy or those who use Shopify present products if they match your prompt, for example, asking ChatGPT “to find the best prices on the latest iPhone."
This included sellers like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, and Vuori, but more companies are rolling out over time. Since this announcement, OpenAI has also released its own browser.
Between the new PayPal relationship and the ability to shop via both ChatGPT and the Atlas browser, OpenAI is opening up a wide world of AI shopping that no other competitor has quite managed yet.
The future of shopping on ChatGPT
Currently, OpenAI has to partner with trusted companies like Stripe or PayPal to manage a lot of these steps. While ChatGPT is doing the work behind the scenes to surface products and present the payment steps, it needs PayPal to be the official payment method.
However, if OpenAI has proved anything, it's that it loves to make its own product and put its name on it. In other words, this recent development is a clear sign of OpenAI’s desire to move into the e-commerce field.
However, if OpenAI has proved anything, it's that it loves to make its own product and put its name on it.
OpenAI is likely to, in the future, find itself more and more embedded in that world. That could include a ChatGPT alternative to Google or Apple Pay, powered by the company’s technology.
Alternatively, it could start to look at how it could rival major payment apps like Cashapp, or PayPal, building financial tools that are backed by its AI power.
What is certain is that this latest step with PayPal marks OpenAI’s intent to be more involved with the way you spend your money.
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