PayPal is set to integrate its payment solutions directly into ChatGPT via OpenAI‘s platform, enabling users to complete purchases within the conversational AI interface. The rollout begins in 2026 as part of a broader push toward agentic commerce.
How the Integration Works
PayPal is adopting the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), an open-source specification designed to enable shopping through AI agents. This protocol facilitates interaction between AI agents and various e-commerce platforms, allowing users to leverage AI for product discovery, comparison, and purchase.
Combined with OpenAI’s “Instant Checkout” feature (launched in September 2025), users can confirm order, shipping, and payment details directly within ChatGPT, eliminating the need to navigate away from the conversational interface.
The integration ensures security and reliability through:
- PayPal wallet checkout – Users can utilize existing PayPal accounts
- Buyer and seller protection – Standard PayPal protection policies apply
- Dispute resolution services – Full access to PayPal’s customer support infrastructure
- Card payment processing – Separate payments API for non-PayPal card transactions
Merchant Benefits and Product Categories
Starting next year, merchants using PayPal products will have their catalogs discoverable on ChatGPT. Initial focus categories include:
- Apparel and fashion
- Beauty products
- Home improvement
- Electronics
The integration requires no additional work from merchants. PayPal will handle merchant routing and payment processing behind the scenes, simplifying the process while expanding merchant reach to ChatGPT‘s user base.
This approach represents a significant shift in product discovery and purchasing. By integrating directly into ChatGPT, merchants gain access to a platform where users are actively seeking information and solutions, creating more targeted and efficient shopping experiences.
Agentic Commerce Suite for Merchants
PayPal is launching a comprehensive agentic commerce suite designed to empower merchants in the AI era. The suite enables merchants to:
- Feature catalogs within AI apps – Automatic product visibility across AI platforms
- Accept payments across AI apps – Unified payment processing regardless of platform
- Gain AI-driven analytics – Insights into consumer behavior and purchasing patterns
This suite positions PayPal as a comprehensive solution provider in AI-driven commerce, offering merchants the tools and insights needed to succeed. AI-powered analytics will prove particularly valuable, allowing merchants to tailor offerings and marketing efforts based on data-driven insights.
Broader AI Commerce Strategy
The ChatGPT integration is part of PayPal’s broader strategy to embed itself as a payments partner within various companies’ AI-enabled shopping experiences:
- May 2025 – Partnership with Perplexity to enable checkout within the AI search tool
- September 2025 – Adopted Google’s Agent Payments Protocol to integrate across various Google products
Beyond commerce partnerships, PayPal is providing enterprise access to ChatGPT for all employees, enabling engineers to leverage OpenAI’s coding tools (Codex) to enhance productivity and innovation. This internal adoption underscores PayPal’s commitment to AI technology across all operational aspects.
The Future of AI-Driven Commerce
PayPal’s integration with ChatGPT represents a fundamental shift in e-commerce, moving toward a model where AI agents facilitate and manage various aspects of the buying process. This “agentic commerce” approach aims to reduce friction in the customer journey by consolidating discovery, comparison, and purchase within a single interface.
For consumers, this means more seamless shopping experiences with integrated payment security. For merchants, it offers expanded reach and valuable insights into AI-driven consumer behavior. As AI continues to reshape digital commerce, PayPal is positioning itself as the payment infrastructure powering this transformation.
