The Future of Buying Just Changed
Welcome to the Dave vs. AI.
OpenAI and Stripe launched something called the Agentic Commerce Protocol.
Sounds technical, but here’s the plain-English version:
You can now buy products directly inside ChatGPT.
No browser. No apps. No search.
You’re chatting, and then you’re checking out.
It’s already connected to Etsy and over a million Shopify stores.
But this isn’t just a new way to buy.
It’s a new way to think about shopping entirely.
From “Search” to “Suggested”
Here’s where things get interesting.
ChatGPT is starting to suggest things before you even ask.
It reads your calendar
Scans your emails
Knows you’re heading to New York next week
Shows you three restaurants near your hotel
Asks: Want a reservation?
You didn’t search or click… it just offered.
Mention flowers for your wife’s birthday during a casual chat?
Suddenly, you’re shown three floral arrangements.
You tap one and it’s ordered.
This is called ambient AI, and it’s already here.
Next Up: Autopilot
The next phase? Autopilot AI.
You say:
“Order flowers for my anniversary next week.”
ChatGPT:
Checks your calendar.
Remembers your preferences.
Places the order.
Processes the payment.
Done.
It’s the most convenient experience you’ve ever had.
The New Commerce War
Google just launched its competing version: AP2.
Microsoft, Amazon, Meta… they’re all racing to own this.
Because whoever controls these AI commerce systems controls:
How billions of people shop
Which products they see
And who gets a cut of the trillions in transactions
ChatGPT already has 800 million weekly users.
It grew 4x faster than social media.
Major retailers adopted this protocol within days of launch.
This isn’t a slow evolution.
This is a sudden shift.
And most people still have no idea it’s happening.
Final Thought
We’re trading control for convenience.
One tap at a time.
And once we get used to AI anticipating our needs, making our decisions, and processing our purchases?
There’s no going back.
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If you’ve only built software, you underestimate how brutal traditional “hardware” timelines can be. In hardware, timelines are incredibly long… in software, you can move at light speed.
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