OpenAI and Instacart introduced a grocery shopping experience within ChatGPT, enabling customers to generate meal ideas, create grocery lists, and complete purchases directly in the chat interface.
This initiative expands upon an existing partnership. Instacart previously launched an in-app AI search tool, powered by ChatGPT, over two years ago. This tool assists shoppers with inquiries regarding meal preparation and dietary accommodations.
The collaboration intensified following former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo’s appointment as OpenAI’s CEO of Applications in May; Simo was already a member of OpenAI’s board.
OpenAI prioritizes agentic commerce, which involves using AI tools for shopping research and user-initiated purchases. During a recent developer day, OpenAI emphasized its strategy to integrate applications into ChatGPT. Early developer previews showcased integrations with Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow. Subsequent partnerships include Target and Intuit.
Ahead of the current holiday shopping season, both OpenAI and Perplexity unveiled in-app features to aid product purchasing decisions. Users can ask ChatGPT to identify gaming laptop deals matching specific criteria. Adobe projected a 520% increase in AI-assisted online shopping during this holiday season.
Despite ChatGPT’s widespread use, OpenAI currently operates without profit, a situation potentially extending for several years. The resource intensity of its products means subscription revenues do not cover the computational power required for operation. Agentic commerce tools may offer an additional revenue stream; OpenAI will collect an undisclosed “small fee” from merchants for sales facilitated through these tools. Significant volumes of ChatGPT-based shopping would be necessary for these fees to substantially impact OpenAI’s financial position.
