OpenAI on Friday announced ChatGPT Wallet, a new payment feature that allows its AI “points” agents to make purchases on behalf of users. The company created ChatGPT Wallet in partnership with American Express, Mastercard and Visa, and allows cardholders to keep the rewards and protections of their existing credit cards. Eligible users enter their card information once, ask their point to find items to purchase, and approve each purchase with a security check. OpenAI said its points agents will never access a user’s card details. Instead, their payment networks will provide the point with a “payment token,” which contains a specific card number, security code, and expiration date specific to a given transaction. “Our goal here is to really focus on merchants and our network partners and start building a really great foundation that is secure and easy to use,” Chaya Nayak, product lead for monetization and payments at OpenAI, told CNBC in an interview. ChatGPT Wallet comes as a growing number of consumers are exploring how to use personal AI agents to manage their calendars, book travel, and complete other day-to-day tasks. OpenAI introduced the point agents during its annual developer conference in late September, shortly after Meta’s Muse offering topped the App Store charts. Purchases made through the ChatGPT Wallet could eventually drive a new revenue stream for OpenAI, but the company said it won’t take a cut of the transactions to begin with. With the initial launch, OpenAI is working to build relationships with merchants and position itself as a serious platform for buyers, especially now that vendors are starting to experiment with personal agents. OpenAI has delved into AI-based commerce over the past year, but some of its early attempts failed to get off the ground. The company introduced an “Instant Pay” feature last fall, which it quickly moved away from. In March, it had launched a revamped shopping experience aimed at making it easier for users to search and compare products. Nayak said ChatGPT Wallet builds on OpenAI’s previous efforts, particularly around product discovery. “We think this is the next step, where if someone finds something they’re really excited to buy, then we want to be able to take it to that end point,” he said. ChatGPT Wallet is initially available to OpenAI Pro subscribers in the US who are 18 years or older. The limited launch is intentional and is “the right approach to ensure everything works,” said Luke Gebb, executive vice president and global chief innovation officer at Amex. OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot supports more than 1.2 billion weekly active users and nearly 100 million paying users as of the end of Q3. With such a large user base, Gebb said OpenAI can decide to “turn up the volume” on ChatGPT Wallet whenever it wants. “It just makes sense to look at it, start it in a contained environment and then go from there,” Gebb told CNBC in an interview. Merchants and sellers are still considering the rise of personal AI agents, and some companies have chosen to forgo them altogether. United Airlines said Wednesday it will block agents from accessing its systems to book tickets, and Amazon prevents agents from purchasing products on its platform. OpenAI said Friday that agent commerce is still in its “early days” and released tools and guidance alongside its ChatGPT Wallet announcement to help businesses start navigating the transition. The company explained how merchants can ensure their websites don’t inadvertently block OpenAI agents, for example. “It will take time for the ecosystem to build the right infrastructure to be able to make this experience truly amazing and seamless across all of its sites,” Nayak said. “Really, who we’re talking to here are the networks and the merchants.” WATCH: OpenAI raises $15 billion at $1.25 trillion valuation, sources say. What it means for the IPO
