India has very quietly started a trial allowing ChatGPT to finalize payments with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which could transform the whole process of online shopping and payment. Under the aegis of NPCI, Razorpay, and OpenAI, the project wants to fuse conversational AI with one of India’s most trusted payment systems.
The concept is that, in a few simple steps, a user would tell ChatGPT to get groceries, and the AI would take care of everything, searching, picking, and paying all in the same chat window. UPI’s new features, like Reserve Pay, allow users to set aside money for certain merchants, and UPI Circle Airtel Payments Bank
At the moment, the trial is limited, and its success will be a matter of great interest before any extensive rollout. Proponents argue that this approach can eventually lead to a drastic reduction of friction in e-commerce and digital payments. The traditional ‘browse-switch to app-authenticate-pay’ sequence is significantly compressed when AI agents are allowed to act on users’ commands. There will need to be clarity on who is liable if something goes wrong, an incorrect order or an unauthorized withdrawal, for instance, whether it is OpenAI (now hits $500 billion valuation
Moreover, safeguards must ensure that the artificial intelligence is not able to violate the limitations set by the user or act beyond its power. If the situation goes right, it would be a sign of a new era in India’s digital trade, making AI assistants the licensed parties for transactions rather than just the interlocutors. One of the advantages of India’s robust UPI infrastructure is that it provides a perfect setting for experimenting with international trade agents using AI for payment.
