Payments processor Stripe is introducing a new technical protocol for agentic artificial intelligence, teaming with ChatGPT parent OpenAI to allow people to buy Etsy goods directly from their chat session. The new “agentic commerce protocol” announced Monday comes two weeks after Google debuted a competing agentic AI protocol, with the companies racing to provide payments infrastructure to enable a new era of commerce where automated bots select and purchase items online within shoppers’ preapproved parameters. Stripe and OpenAI said they’ll expand the protocol across more regions “over time.”For retailers, agentic commerce could pose a revolutionary shift in terms of digital sales as digital bots shop for consumers. PayPal CEO Alex Chriss said in July that agentic commerce “will drive the biggest transformations since the advent of e-commerce,” with 25% of online sales from AI agents by 2030. A Stripe spokesperson declined to reveal any details of the fee structure or the company’s commercial arrangement with OpenAI.