The Agentic Commerce Protocol is a set of rules that lets AI agents buy things for you. OpenAI and Stripe built it together, along with some merchants. The idea is simple: it tells AIs, users, and businesses how to talk to each other so that buying things is easy, but merchants still stay in control of payments and orders.
So what’s new? OpenAI has made the protocol open-source, and you can see it in action with ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout. The protocol solves three big problems. First, it works everywhere, no matter what payment system you use. Second, merchants don’t lose control over their payments or orders. Third, it’s easy to set up. If you use Stripe, you can turn it on with just one line of code. If you use something else, you can still use it without changing your whole system.
Security is built in. Payment tokens are locked down and can only be used for certain amounts and certain merchants. You have to confirm every step before anything happens. And only the information needed to finish your order gets shared—nothing extra.
Why does this matter? If you’re building an AI that can buy things, this gives you a clear way to do it safely. The big problem with letting AIs spend money is trust. This protocol fixes that. You stay in control, payments are safe, and merchants keep running things their way.
But this isn’t just about shopping. The same ideas—like confirming every step, only sharing what’s needed, and locking down what an AI can do—can be used anywhere an AI acts for you. Because it’s open-source, anyone can use it. This could set the standard for how AIs help us in the future.
