NEW YORK — OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a virtual merchant that can help sell goods for Etsy and Shopify as the artificial intelligence company looks for new revenue in online commerce.
ChatGPT users can now buy directly from Etsy sellers while interacting with the chatbot, and will soon be able to do the same with Shopify sellers.
Competing with the likes of Amazon and Google for purchase fees from digital shopping could be a new source of money for OpenAI. The company hasn’t made a profit and has relied on investors to back the costs of building and running its powerful AI systems.
OpenAI said it is working with payments company Stripe on the technical standards that will enable purchases through the “Instant Checkout” system.
A number of payment companies have been working with AI developers on so-called AI agents that, given a credit card, could find and make purchases on a shopper’s behalf.
OpenAI said ChatGPT won’t favor these items in its product results.
“When ranking multiple merchants that sell the same product, ChatGPT considers factors like availability, price, quality, whether a merchant is the primary seller, and whether Instant Checkout is enabled, to optimize the user experience,” the company said in a statement.
