PayPal has announced a landmark partnership with OpenAI to integrate its digital wallet directly into ChatGPT, enabling users to make purchases and complete transactions within the AI platform.
The fintech giant confirmed the agreement exclusively to CNBC, describing it as a major step toward the future of AI-driven e-commerce. The deal, finalized over the weekend, will allow PayPal users and merchants to connect directly with ChatGPT starting next year.
Under the partnership, consumers will be able to buy products they discover through ChatGPT, while merchants can list their items for sale on the platform.
“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,”
said PayPal CEO Alex Chriss in an interview with CNBC.
Background: ChatGPT Enters E-Commerce
Last month, OpenAI introduced a feature called Instant Checkout, which enables U.S. users to search for products and complete payments directly within the ChatGPT interface. The rollout began with listings from Etsy and will soon include merchants from Shopify.
The new feature is built on the Agentic Commerce Protocol, an open-source standard developed with payment processor Stripe. The system handles the entire shopping process, from product discovery and selection to payment and shipping, without leaving the chat window.
Product listings are ranked solely on relevance, not on whether merchants use the Instant Checkout feature, according to OpenAI.
With more than 700 million weekly users, ChatGPT’s expansion into online shopping positions it as a powerful personal shopping assistant capable of helping users find, compare, and buy items seamlessly.
Merchant Integration and Payment Security
As part of the collaboration, PayPal will manage merchant onboarding, payment validation, and transaction processing. This eliminates the need for sellers to register individually with OpenAI, streamlining the e-commerce experience.
Chriss emphasized the importance of security and trust in digital transactions:
“It’s not just that a transaction can happen, it’s that this is a trusted set of merchants, the largest merchant network in the world from PayPal, that are verified, with the largest set of verified consumers in a consumer wallet,”
he said.
Shoppers will be able to pay using linked bank accounts, credit or debit cards, or PayPal balances. They will also enjoy additional benefits such as transaction protection, package tracking, and dispute resolution.
A New Era of AI-Powered Commerce
The partnership underscores PayPal’s ambition to become the backbone of AI-powered payments. Beyond the integration, the company is also adopting OpenAI’s enterprise AI tools internally to accelerate product development and innovation.
By combining PayPal’s vast merchant network with ChatGPT’s growing global user base, both companies are positioning themselves at the forefront of a new era in online commerce, one where artificial intelligence not only recommends products but also completes the transaction.
