A friend shared Stripe and OpenAI’s new Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) with me. ACP is an open-source interaction model and an open standard that lets buyers, AI agents, and businesses complete purchases. Translation: ACP will enable buyers and sellers to complete purchases, using AI agents, within an “AI surface” (think apps like ChatGPT).

As I understand it, when a buyer wants to purchase within a chat app, an AI agent works with them, showing products, offering checkout, and collecting payment. The business receives order details and payment information from the AI agent and can accept or decline the transaction. The AI agent facilitates payment via the business’s payment provider and sends payment details via a secure token (I assume after the buyer accepts the transaction), which the business can use to charge the buyer. If all goes well, the buyer can check out instantly via an app like ChatGPT without ever leaving it. It’s a seamless experience.

This is interesting stuff that could really change how commerce is done. It’s brand new, and I’m curious to learn more about it and follow its development. If you want to learn more, you can read Stripe’s blog announcement here and visit the ACP website (which links its GitHub) here.