OpenAI’s ChatGPT users might soon be able to use the AI model for shopping, according to reports. There are plans to integrate e-commerce platform Shopify with ChatGPT. TestingCatalog noticed proof of it in the new code strings of ChatGPT’s public web bundle, “buy_now”, price, and shipping fields, product-offer ratings, and a “shopify_checkout_url”. According to the report, this would be a formal tie-up for integrating a native experience, not an unofficial one.
This integration would allow ChatGPT users to directly make use of the provision instead of switching sites. The report also pointed out that the feature is already live among the production assets, suggesting that the release of the feature is imminent.
The reaction to this development has been mixed. Some AI enthusiasts have been critical of this move, with one X user saying “OpenAI went from chasing AGI to chasing Shopify carts? We were promised AI that could reshape civilization. Instead, we got a chatbot upselling tote bags and protein powder.”
READ: AI and the workforce: Augmentation, adaptation, and the future of jobs (February 11, 2025)
A couple of years back, OpenAI introduced plugins to try to integrate such functionalities, but then killed it. There were security concerns regarding plugins, including prompt injection attacks and the deployment of malicious payloads through third-party integrations.
Shopify seems to be currently all in when it comes to AI use. Recently, its CEO Tobi Lutke issued a memo saying that teams should show why they cannot get things done using AI before requesting for more headcount or resources. The memo also stated that “reflexive AI usage” was now a “baseline expectation at the company,” with Lutke stating that AI has been “the most rapid shift to how work is done that I’ve seen in my career” and that “using AI well is a skill that needs to be carefully learned by… using it a lot.” This came amid an AI-acquisition streak for the company which had acquired six different AI companies over the past year.