PayPal and OpenAI deal links millions of merchants to ChatGPT
PayPal said it struck a deal with OpenAI to power instant checkout inside ChatGPT, making PayPal the payments wallet for in-chat purchases and connecting tens of millions of PayPal merchants to OpenAI’s shopping features.
ChatGPT users will be able to complete purchases with PayPal’s wallet in Instant Checkout, while PayPal will also process card payments through OpenAI’s delegated payments API. The company will adopt OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol so merchants’ product catalogs can be surfaced and purchased directly in ChatGPT without one-off integrations. Timing points to a 2026 expansion that onboards small businesses and large retail brands via a PayPal-run ACP server.
OpenAI introduced Instant Checkout in late September as a way to let people find and buy products inside ChatGPT, starting with U.S. Etsy sellers and with Shopify support on deck. The company described the Agentic Commerce Protocol as an open framework built with Stripe that enables AI-driven buying flows; merchants pay a commission on completed transactions.
OpenAI introduced Instant Checkout in late September as a way to let people find and buy products inside ChatGPT, starting with U.S. Etsy sellers and with Shopify support on deck. The company described the Agentic Commerce Protocol as an open framework built with Stripe that enables AI-driven buying flows; merchants pay a commission on completed transactions.
Hundreds of millions of people turn to ChatGPT each week… and over 400 million use PayPal to shop,
The deal lands as agentic commerce expands beyond niche sellers. Instant Checkout began with Etsy and is adding Shopify, while recent retail announcements showed large catalogs coming to ChatGPT. PayPal’s merchant network adds a second distribution rail: rather than each brand wiring up an integration, PayPal’s ACP server is meant to route and validate payments in the background.
For markets, the read-through is clear enough. With PayPal as the default wallet and processor for a large share of ChatGPT transactions, OpenAI gets a payments layer with global coverage and compliance, and PayPal gets a front-row seat as commerce moves into chat.
PayPal also said the partnership extends beyond commerce. The company will scale ChatGPT Enterprise to more than 24,000 employees and give engineers access to OpenAI tools to speed product work. For merchants, the appeal is distribution: if ACP works as described, millions of PayPal sellers could become discoverable in ChatGPT without bespoke builds. For users, the upside is fewer hand-offs.
For markets, the read-through is clear enough. With PayPal as the default wallet and processor for a large share of ChatGPT transactions, OpenAI gets a payments layer with global coverage and compliance, and PayPal gets a front-row seat as commerce moves into chat.
PayPal also said the partnership extends beyond commerce. The company will scale ChatGPT Enterprise to more than 24,000 employees and give engineers access to OpenAI tools to speed product work. For merchants, the appeal is distribution: if ACP works as described, millions of PayPal sellers could become discoverable in ChatGPT without bespoke builds. For users, the upside is fewer hand-offs.
Author
Sebile Fane cut her teeth in blockchain by building tiny NFT experiments with friends in her living room, long before the buzzwords took hold. She’s driven by a curiosity for the human stories behind smart contracts — whether it’s a small-town artist minting her first token or a DAO voting on climate grants — and weaves technical insight with genuine empathy.
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