OpenAI is pursuing a plan to add a payment system within ChatGPT that allows users to search for and purchase products. The idea is to grow a shopping business by receiving a certain commission on products sold within ChatGPT. This is seen as an attempt by OpenAI, which is currently facing crises such as investment delays, escalating conflicts with Microsoft (MS), and talent exodus, to find a new revenue generation model.
◇ Development of the payment system within ChatGPT
According to the Financial Times (FT) on the 16th (local time), OpenAI is building an e-commerce system that allows users to search for products and complete orders and payments within ChatGPT. Currently, users can receive product recommendations from ChatGPT, search for desired items, and check related photos and reviews. However, to make a purchase, they must move to external shopping sites to complete the payment.
FT reported that OpenAI is working with e-commerce platforms like Shopify to demonstrate an initial version of the payment system and discuss revenue sharing terms. Sellers are expected to pay a certain commission for products purchased through ChatGPT's payment system.
The reason OpenAI aims to charge commissions like an online shopping mall is that it needs new revenue sources beyond subscriptions. OpenAI's revenue structure relies on consumer-facing paid services for ChatGPT and corporate service subscriptions. According to the economic media CNBC, fueled by a surge in paid subscribers for ChatGPT, OpenAI's annual recurring revenue (ARR) surpassed $10 billion (about 13.6 trillion won) as of last month. The weekly active user count for ChatGPT has exceeded 500 million, and the number of paid corporate clients has surpassed 3 million.
However, OpenAI is still recording losses, leading to significant concerns about monetization. FT noted, "If the shopping features of ChatGPT are enhanced to enable the collection of sales commissions, it will allow for the generation of revenue from free users that have not been monetized up to now."
◇ OpenAI, struggling with losses, seeks new revenue models
The move to expand through shopping is also related to OpenAI's financial situation, which is heavily reliant on external investments and faces significant labor cost burdens. Recently, as Facebook's parent company Meta and others have offered high salaries, more than 10 members from OpenAI have left, prompting OpenAI to adjust compensation for its existing employees upwards. OpenAI spent $4.4 billion (about 6.1 trillion won) on employee stock compensation last year. This figure has surged fivefold over the year. This year, in response to rival companies' "poaching" efforts, it is expected that OpenAI will expand employee compensation, including performance bonuses, increasing financial pressure. Industry expectations estimate that OpenAI recorded losses of about $5 billion last year.
This year, plans are in place to invest massive funds in AI research and infrastructure, but the financial situation is challenging. OpenAI aims for revenues of $125 billion (about 169.4 trillion won) by 2029, but prevailing forecasts indicate that turning a profit will be difficult.
Amid ongoing personnel exodus, the release of the next-generation AI model GPT-5 and open-source models has been delayed, and OpenAI's relationship with its largest investor, MS, has also worsened. Conflicts with MS have disrupted merger and acquisition (M&A) strategies. A planned acquisition of the AI coding startup WindSurf was also lost to Google, with reports suggesting the breakdown in negotiations was due to OpenAI's reluctance to provide WindSurf's technology to MS. In this process, OpenAI's request for revisions to existing contracts with MS has further strained the relationship.
In contrast to big tech companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon that can mobilize enormous funds based on stable businesses, OpenAI, which needs to secure external funding, finds it essential to establish additional revenue sources such as shopping.
Previously, Perplexity also introduced shopping features based on AI chatbots to generate revenue. In May, Perplexity partnered with PayPal to build a system that allows users to make travel reservations, purchase products, and book concert tickets directly within Perplexity. In this structure, Perplexity provides shopping search capabilities while PayPal handles payment processing, delivery, tracking, and billing.