OpenAI to Earn Commission on ChatGPT E-commerce Sales

OpenAI, the developer of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, is preparing to take a percentage of sales when users buy products directly via the platform using its built-in checkout feature. This initiative is part of OpenAI's broader strategy to build out e-commerce tools and boost revenue. Currently, ChatGPT presents product suggestions with links that direct users to external retailers. In April, OpenAI partnered with a payments provider to explore deeper shopping integrations, aiming to create a more seamless shopping experience within the chat interface.

This move represents a significant shift for the San Francisco-based startup, which has been operating at a loss despite a valuation of about $300 billion. Until now, most of its income has come from subscription fees for premium services. By taking a commission on e-commerce sales, OpenAI would unlock a new source of income that it has not yet tapped. This new revenue stream would come from cutting a percentage from transactions by users on the free tier, providing a more sustainable financial model for the company.

The push to integrate a built-in checkout feature raises the stakes for traditional search engines, as more people turn to chatbots for searching and finding products. The checkout feature is still under development, but OpenAI and its partner have shown early versions of the system to companies and hashed out details of their financial arrangement. The payments provider supplies technology that other platforms can adopt for checkout, already underpinning shopping features on various social apps, allowing users to buy items without leaving the host site.

Currently, ChatGPT’s product suggestions are based on how well they match a user’s question and any context the model has, such as past interactions or a budget limit supplied in instructions. A recent upgrade to ChatGPT’s memory allows the system to recall individual preferences, making recommendations more tailored over time. However, after an item is chosen, OpenAI may display different merchants selling that product. The list is created from product and merchant metadata provided by third parties, with the sequence in which sellers appear largely determined by those data suppliers. OpenAI notes that it is expecting this integration to evolve as the experience of shopping on the platform continues to improve.

Advertising firms are experimenting with artificial intelligence optimization (AIO), crafting content that the model is likely to pick up, a practice some in the industry have dubbed “AIO,” akin to search engine optimization. This practice raises questions about what ‘preferences’ AI shows in its results and could potentially disrupt traditional paid search methods. Earlier, OpenAI insisted it was not actively planning on pursuing advertising. However, the company is now looking at options to integrate advertising, although it is yet to be decided where and when to implement it. In March, the CEO of OpenAI said in a newsletter that the company would charge a 2 percent affiliate fee or something similar for purchases made through the platform.