Microsoft and Stripe are forging a new frontier in the convergence of artificial intelligence and electronic commerce, launching the Copilot Checkout feature for US users to enable direct-in-chat purchasing, transforming the AI assistant from a research and productivity tool into a full-fledged shopping channel. The new feature, which is rolling out on Copilot.com and will extend to other Copilot experiences across Bing and Microsoft Edge, represents a significant push into the burgeoning market of "agentic commerce," where AI agents facilitate and complete transactions on behalf of the user. This strategic move leverages Stripe's payment processing infrastructure, alongside partnerships with other major players like PayPal and Shopify, to create a frictionless shopping experience that eliminates the need for users to be redirected to an external e-commerce site to finalize a purchase.[1][2][3][4]

Copilot Checkout is built on the premise of reducing friction, enabling a shopper to move from conversational intent to a completed transaction in seconds. This new model, which Microsoft claims "turns conversations into conversions—instantly," is a core component of the company's broader push into agentic AI solutions for the retail sector. The technology works by surfacing products from partner retailers directly within the Copilot conversation, where the entire process—from discovery and comparison to final purchase—can be executed without leaving the chat interface. Crucially, Microsoft has adopted an open standard known as the Agentic Commerce Protocol, which was initially developed by OpenAI and Stripe, positioning the integration as an open ecosystem rather than a walled garden. The initial rollout includes products from major retail brands like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Ashley Furniture, as well as unique and handmade items from Etsy sellers. Shopify merchants are set to be automatically enrolled following an opt-out window, instantly providing a vast catalog for Copilot users.[1][2][5][6][4]

A key factor in Microsoft's approach to this new commerce model is its focus on maintaining the merchant-customer relationship, a principle that differentiates its strategy from some of its competitors. Microsoft has emphasized that the retailer remains the "merchant of record," retaining ownership of the transaction, customer data, and the customer relationship. This consent-first framework is a calculated move to win over retailers who are wary of giving up control to large AI intermediaries or rival marketplaces. The company has also introduced related tools, such as Brand Agents for Shopify merchants, which are AI assistants trained on a brand's product catalog to engage shoppers in natural, brand-aligned conversations directly on the retailer's own website, further strengthening the merchant's brand presence and control within the AI ecosystem. This focus on empowering the merchant and respecting data ownership is a strategic differentiation point in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI commerce.[5][6][3][7][4]

The launch of Copilot Checkout places Microsoft squarely in a high-stakes competitive race against other technology giants, including its close partner OpenAI, and its perennial rival, Google. OpenAI was an early mover, launching its Instant Checkout feature in ChatGPT in partnership with Stripe and Shopify, allowing users to buy from a vast network of merchants. Google followed suit with its own "Buy for Me" feature within the Gemini assistant, which aims to handle autonomous payments and purchase products on a user's behalf. While Copilot has a smaller consumer market share compared to ChatGPT and Google Gemini in the overall AI chatbot web traffic data, Microsoft is banking on its deep-seated relationships with major enterprise retailers and its established technology footprint to gain an advantage in the business-to-business side of retail AI. The market shift toward agentic commerce is underscored by the dramatic growth in the sector, with AI-driven e-commerce traffic surging by a reported 693 percent year-over-year during the 2025 holiday season, according to data from Adobe, signaling a fundamental transformation in consumer shopping behavior.[8][9][6][10][7][4][11]

The broader implication of this move for the AI and e-commerce industries is the normalization of the chat interface as a primary commercial gateway. This transition signifies a new era of "concierge commerce," where the AI acts as a highly personalized, context-aware personal shopper, guiding the customer and eliminating the historical need for a multi-step checkout process. By integrating payment infrastructure directly into the conversational flow, Microsoft, Stripe, and their partners are effectively collapsing the shopping funnel. For consumers, this promises an unparalleled level of convenience and personalization, with early signals showing that shopping journeys that include Copilot are nearly 200 percent more likely to result in a purchase when a shopping intent is present, compared to those without the AI. For the AI industry, this represents the next major monetization vector for large language models, moving AI from simple information retrieval to tangible, high-value commercial actions, solidifying the role of AI assistants as essential tools in the digital economy. The competition will now pivot not just on the intelligence of the underlying models, but on which platform can build the most robust, merchant-friendly, and frictionless commerce ecosystem.[5][12]