OpenAI Scales Back ChatGPT Shopping Ambitions After Weak Checkout Feature Uptake

• OpenAI is reducing its focus on ChatGPT as an e-commerce hub due to limited success of its in-app purchasing feature.
• The company is pivoting away from its Instant Checkout functionality, which allowed direct purchases within the chatbot.
• Instant Checkout, launched last September, enabled conversational product browsing and virtual cart additions, with external merchants fulfilling transactions.
• OpenAI will now allow merchants to use their own checkout systems, shifting focus to improving product discovery.
• ChatGPT will be repositioned as a consumer research hub, providing detailed product insights and comparisons, rather than a direct transaction platform.