OpenAI and Instacart have introduced a new grocery shopping experience within ChatGPT, allowing customers to generate meal ideas, create grocery lists, and complete purchases directly in the chat interface.
This initiative builds upon an existing partnership between the two companies, as Instacart had previously launched an in-app AI search tool powered by ChatGPT over two years ago. The tool assists shoppers with inquiries regarding meal preparation and dietary accommodations, showcasing the potential of AI in enhancing the shopping experience.
The collaboration between OpenAI and Instacart gained momentum following the appointment of former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo as OpenAI’s CEO of Applications in May. Notably, Simo was already a member of OpenAI’s board, highlighting the close ties between the two organizations.
OpenAI is prioritizing agentic commerce, which involves using AI tools for shopping research and user-initiated purchases. During a recent developer day, the company emphasized its strategy to integrate applications into ChatGPT, showcasing early developer previews of integrations with various partners, including Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow. Subsequent partnerships have also been announced with Target and Intuit, further expanding the capabilities of ChatGPT.
Ahead of the current holiday shopping season, both OpenAI and Perplexity unveiled in-app features designed to aid product purchasing decisions. For instance, users can ask ChatGPT to identify gaming laptop deals that match specific criteria, demonstrating the practical applications of AI in shopping. Adobe has projected a significant 520% increase in AI-assisted online shopping during this holiday season, underscoring the growing importance of AI in e-commerce.
Despite ChatGPT’s widespread use, OpenAI currently operates without profit, a situation that may persist for several years. The resource-intensive nature of its products means that subscription revenues do not cover the computational power required for operation. However, agentic commerce tools may offer an additional revenue stream for OpenAI, as the company 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.
