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On Wed, 14 May, 4:04 PM UTC
11 Sources
[1]
Perplexity and PayPal Team Up for AI Shopping: What It Means for You
Dashia is the consumer insights editor for CNET. She specializes in data-driven analysis and news that intersects personal finance, tech and consumer sentiment. Dashia investigates economic shifts and everyday challenges to help readers make well-informed decisions. She covers a range of topics, including technology, security, energy and money. Dashia graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She loves teaching spinning, baking and spending time with her family. Imagine asking an AI-powered engine to book your next vacation and even find the flights for it. That's exactly what Perplexity's new partnership with PayPal will do starting this summer in the US. Perplexity, an AI chatbot and search engine, and PayPal announced the partnership and what it will mean for shoppers on Wednesday. Shoppers will be able to chat feature to browse and make purchases on Perplexity's Pro platform, and PayPal and Venmo will now be the accepted payment methods. The news is a part of Perplexity's push for "agentic commerce," which lets Perplexity use AI for shopping and transactions via PayPal's commerce solutions, according to PayPal's statement. PayPal will also handle the shipping, tracking and invoicing processes. The Perplexity and PayPal partnership for an AI-powered shopping model isn't the first of its kind. Visa and Mastercard already have AI shopping programs aimed at learning your shopping habits and customizing your experience -- if you allow the bot to do so. Naturally, relying on AI to handle shopping can raise some questions about online security and risks of identity theft, especially if you're storing your credit card and personal information online. PayPal highlighted that its fraud detection and data security protocols will be used. Visa and Mastercard's programs use a one-time use key to replace your credit card information when making purchases for security purposes. As of now, it's unclear whether PayPal will do the same or if it has other payment security measures in place.
[2]
Perplexity, PayPal partner to provide easy payment checkouts to users
May 14 (Reuters) - Perplexity AI said on Wednesday it had partnered with payments firm PayPal (PYPL.O), opens new tab to enable direct purchases within its chat interface. The deal will strengthen Perplexity's agentic commerce offering, a rapidly growing trend where AI agents not only help consumers with shopping but also handle transactions for them. Through the partnership, users will be able to check out instantly with PayPal or Venmo when they ask Perplexity Pro to find products, book travel or buy tickets, starting this summer in the United States. The entire process, from payment to invoicing, will occur behind the scenes through PayPal's account linking, which could "eliminate the need for passwords" and "streamline the experience to a single user query or click", the AI startup said. The partnership will also expand Perplexity's commerce tools to PayPal's more than 430 million active accounts across nearly 200 markets. Perplexity provides information by searching the internet, similar to ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, and is backed by Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab founder Jeff Bezos, AI giant Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and Japan's SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab. The startup is in advanced talks to raise $500 million in a funding round that would value it at $14 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence
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Perplexity partners with PayPal for in-chat shopping as AI race heats up
Amazon's most powerful new Alexa features being powered by Anthropic's AI, sources say Perplexity jumped into e-commerce last year, adding a shopping feature for paid U.S. users and integrating with sellers using services like Shopify. Now Perplexity is allowing users to complete transactions within a chat, a feature that OpenAI's ChatGPT has yet to roll out. PayPal is competing for AI deals against companies including Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard. PayPal technology chief Srini Venkatesan said PayPal's system can directly connect to the merchants, handling payments, shipping, and billing information without requiring users to re-enter details. The company also manages support. "The next generation of commerce is happening on the agentic side. People are starting to research and shop online through agents," Venkatesan said, referring to AI-driven systems that can complete tasks without human intervention. "Agentic commerce is not only the searching but making it all the way to the purchase -- paying for it and then buying it from that merchant. So that's what PayPal has been leading, and we've been trying to get the agentic commerce piece right." Venkatesan said PayPal's edge in this space comes from its ability to securely verify both buyers and sellers. PayPal authenticates users through their wallet and automatically fills in billing and shipping information, aiming to reduce friction. "We provide the trust that the business is legitimate on one side, and then the customer is legitimate on the other side," he said. The partnership comes as Perplexity is finalizing a $500 million funding round at a $14 billion valuation, down from an initial target of $18 billion. The use of AI-driven chat services for buying decisions has jumped 42% in the past year, according to Salesforce data, based on 1.6 trillion page views on its platform. Global sales influenced by AI climbed to $229 billion between November and December, up from $199 billion during the same period a year earlier. ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google's AI Overviews have climbed ahead in search, building powerful real-time results and AI-enhanced answers. OpenAI launched its ChatGPT search feature last year, positioning it to compete directly with Perplexity, while Google's AI Overviews brought real-time insights to search.
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Perplexity teams up with PayPal to turn your AI chats into shopping sprees
Samsung's next big Galaxy AI feature could bring your still images to life Summary Perplexity and PayPal partner for easy shopping, trip booking, and concert ticket buying in chat window. Perplexity Pro assists in finding items and allows quick PayPal checkout directly in chat. PayPal's passkey feature ensures secure, quick transactions and signals shift towards AI-driven shopping experience. Perplexity is stepping things up in a big way. Soon, users in the US will be able to book trips, shop for stuff, and even buy concert tickets right from a simple chat window. This is made possible by a new partnership between PayPal and the AI company. Thanks to this team-up, users can now pay for things instantly, right inside Perplexity's chat interface. As Reuters put it, it's a major move that brings shopping, planning, and payments into one smooth, conversational experience. Related I've mostly dumped Google Search for the smarter Perplexity and ChatGPT AI (not Google's) for the win! Posts Starting this summer, Perplexity Pro won't just give you answers, but it'll also handle things for you. Say you're hunting for a new pair of sneakers, booking a weekend trip, or trying to score concert tickets. Just ask, and Perplexity will not only find what you need, but let you check out right there in the chat using PayPal. PayPal is taking the wheel on pretty much everything, such as payments, making sure your order gets shipped, keeping tabs on where it is, and even sorting out the receipts. When you're ready to lock in your purchase, it'll be as quick as one tap. That's all thanks to PayPal's passkey feature, which keeps your transactions secure and smooth without making you work for it. The promise is to make the whole checkout feel so natural, you'll barely notice it happened. AI does the heavy lifting Perplexity is now your shopping agent This upgrade is a sign we're heading into a whole new era of how we shop. AI is no longer just your go-to for quick answers or product suggestions. Now, it's rolling up its sleeves and actually doing the shopping for you. It's being called "agentic commerce," and it just means your AI isn't sitting on the sidelines anymore. It finds what you need, handles the checkout, and wraps it all up. With over 430 million active users worldwide, PayPal is literally everywhere. So plugging that kind of reach into Perplexity's setup has the power to seriously shake up how we buy things online. As AI keeps getting sharper, partnerships like this hint at where things are headed. We're talking about digital assistants that don't just tell you what to buy, but they'll actually handle the whole process for you, start to finish. And having a familiar name like PayPal in the mix takes the edge off any weirdness around AI doing your shopping.
[5]
Perplexity and PayPal beat out ChatGPT to be the first to offer in-app shopping
As the AI world heats up with competition, ways to stand out are becoming harder to come across. Perplexity, the AI search tool, has taken a more unique approach, diving into the world of chat-powered shopping. Announcing a partnership with PayPal, Perplexity will now let users in the U.S. make purchases directly in the chatbot. This will include booking flights, buying products, and getting your hands on concert tickets without having to leave the Perplexity platform. This will be a big move for Perplexity as it looks to take on more of the web search volume. Unlike some of its competitors, like ChatGPT and Gemini, Perplexity has tried to position itself more as a search engine than a chatbot. "Perplexity wants to have accurate, trustworthy answers wherever people are making decisions. PayPal is a natural partner because we share a vision for how important trust is in the age of AI," said Aravind Srinivas, Cofounder and CEO of Perplexity, in an announcement of the news. Behind the scenes, PayPal will handle payments, shipping, tracking, and invoicing. They plan to use secure systems like personalized token wallets and unique passkey systems that would eliminate the need for passwords and allow users to complete everything in one click. Customers will be able to use either PayPal or Venmo to complete their purchases. While exact details are still unclear, it is likely that the process will allow users to complete purchases through Perplexity search. For example, when searching "When is a good time to fly to Barcelona?" and presenting the information, users will also be able to book flights directly from Perplexity. This isn't the first time that Perplexity has taken a step into the world of e-commerce. In late 2024, the app offered a shopping feature in its pro plan, partnering with sellers via platforms like Shopify. The partnership with PayPal marks the next step of this, completing transactions directly from Perplexity. This seems like the logical next step for AI and chatbots, and yet, ChatGPT, Gemini and other competitors are yet to release anything similar. However, the shift is already on its way. Last month, Visa announced its "new era of commerce", partnering with large AI platforms to introduce shopping features in partnership with chatbots. In the same month, Mastercard also announced a similar intention, parterning with Microsoft to build out a shopping system through Microsoft's different AI platforms. Of course, this kind of technology will require safeguarding and will be limited in its ability in the early stages, but this could well be how we all shop in the near future.
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Perplexity selects PayPal to power agentic commerce
This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Starting this summer in the U.S., consumers can check out instantly with PayPal or Venmo when they ask Perplexity to find products, book travel, or buy tickets. "Perplexity wants to have accurate, trustworthy answers wherever people are making decisions. PayPal is a natural partner because we share a vision for how important trust is in the age of AI," said Aravind Srinivas, Cofounder and CEO of Perplexity. "This partnership unlocks new possibilities, where conversations now drive commerce," said Alex Chriss, President and CEO of PayPal. "We're making it easy and secure to shop right in the chat when inspiration strikes. It's a powerful step in making conversational commerce a reality." The entire process, including payment, shipping, tracking, and invoicing will be handled behind the scenes with PayPal's account linking, secure tokenized wallet and emerging passkey checkout flows, which could eliminate the need for passwords and streamline the experience to a single user query or click. Key features include: Agentic Commerce: Integration of PayPal's commerce solutions, enabling users to buy products or services directly in Perplexity's chat interface. Global Reach: Expanding Perplexity's commerce tools to PayPal's 430+ million active accounts across approximately 200 markets. Secure Transactions: Leveraging PayPal's robust fraud detection and data security protocols. Perplexity is a conversational search and discovery engine that fuses live web data with generative models to deliver cited answers -- and the next best action -- in a single chat. Whether users are researching a topic, comparing products, or planning a trip, Perplexity turns natural questions into trustworthy, ready-to-use results, streamlining how people learn, decide, and get things done online.
[7]
Perplexity, PayPal partner to provide easy payment checkouts to users
The deal will strengthen Perplexity's agentic commerce offering, a rapidly growing trend where AI agents not only help consumers with shopping but also handle transactions for them.Perplexity AI said on Wednesday it had partnered with payments firm PayPal to enable direct purchases within its chat interface. The deal will strengthen Perplexity's agentic commerce offering, a rapidly growing trend where AI agents not only help consumers with shopping but also handle transactions for them. Through the partnership, users will be able to check out instantly with PayPal or Venmo when they ask Perplexity Pro to find products, book travel or buy tickets, starting this summer in the United States. The entire process, from payment to invoicing, will occur behind the scenes through PayPal's account linking, which could "eliminate the need for passwords" and "streamline the experience to a single user query or click", the AI startup said. The partnership will also expand Perplexity's commerce tools to PayPal's more than 430 million active accounts across nearly 200 markets. Perplexity provides information by searching the internet, similar to ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, and is backed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, AI giant Nvidia and Japan's SoftBank Group. The startup is in advanced talks to raise $500 million in a funding round that would value it at $14 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
[8]
Perplexity Selects PayPal to Power Agentic Commerce - PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL)
Smart shopping comes to Perplexity as PayPal powers intelligent, in-flow shopping via Agentic AI SAN JOSE, Calif., May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Perplexity today announced that it has partnered with PayPal to power agentic commerce across its Perplexity Pro platform. Starting this summer in the U.S., consumers can check out instantly with PayPal or Venmo when they ask Perplexity to find products, book travel, or buy tickets. "Perplexity wants to have accurate, trustworthy answers wherever people are making decisions. PayPal is a natural partner because we share a vision for how important trust is in the age of AI," said Aravind Srinivas, Cofounder and CEO of Perplexity. "This partnership unlocks new possibilities, where conversations now drive commerce," said Alex Chriss, President and CEO of PayPal. "We're making it easy and secure to shop right in the chat when inspiration strikes. It's a powerful step in making conversational commerce a reality." The entire process, including payment, shipping, tracking, and invoicing will be handled behind the scenes with PayPal's account linking, secure tokenized wallet and emerging passkey checkout flows, which could eliminate the need for passwords and streamline the experience to a single user query or click. Key features include: Agentic Commerce: Integration of PayPal's commerce solutions, enabling users to buy products or services directly in Perplexity's chat interface.Global Reach: Expanding Perplexity's commerce tools to PayPal's 430+ million active accounts across approximately 200 markets.Secure Transactions: Leveraging PayPal's robust fraud detection and data security protocols. Perplexity is a conversational search and discovery engine that fuses live web data with generative models to deliver cited answers -- and the next best action -- in a single chat. Whether users are researching a topic, comparing products, or planning a trip, Perplexity turns natural questions into trustworthy, ready-to-use results, streamlining how people learn, decide, and get things done online. About Perplexity Perplexity is an AI-powered answer engine founded in 2022 by former members of OpenAI, Meta, Quora, Bing, and Databricks. It provides real-time, conversational responses to user queries with inline citations from trusted sources, answering over 150 million questions each week. The company's startup program provides free API credits and Enterprise Pro to qualified startups. Startups can find out more at perplexity.ai/startups and users can try the platform at perplexity.ai/ or on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Sonar API and soon, Comet Browser. About PayPal PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit https://www.paypal.com, https://about.pypl.com/ and https://investor.pypl.com/. Media Contact Mediarelations@paypal.com SOURCE PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPLPayPal Holdings Inc$73.081.09%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum47.63Growth53.92Quality16.43Value56.81Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
[9]
Perplexity Adds PayPal as Checkout Option | PYMNTS.com
Artificial intelligence (AI) search company Perplexity has launched a partnership with PayPal. The collaboration will see Perplexity use PayPal to power agentic commerce on its Perplexity Pro platform, according to a Wednesday (May 14) news release. Beginning this summer, U.S. consumers can check out instantly using PayPal or Venmo when they ask Perplexity to look for products, book travel or purchase tickets, per the announcement. "Perplexity wants to have accurate, trustworthy answers wherever people are making decisions. PayPal is a natural partner because we share a vision for how important trust is in the age of AI," Perplexity Co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas said in the release. "This partnership unlocks new possibilities, where conversations now drive commerce," PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss said. "We're making it easy and secure to shop right in the chat when inspiration strikes. It's a powerful step in making conversational commerce a reality." According to the release, the partnership integrates PayPal's commerce solutions, allowing users to buy products or services right in the Perplexity chat interface. It also expands Perplexity's commerce tools to PayPal's more than 430 million active accounts in roughly 200 markets, while employing that company's fraud detection and data security protocols, according to the release. This week also saw reports that Perplexity was in talks to reach a $14 billion valuation as it seeks to introduce its Comet browser to compete with tech giants like Google. As PYMNTS wrote in the wake of that news, this development could be a signal that "AI might already be poised to do to traditional internet and information gateways what WiFi did to the ethernet cable." In the middle of this shift are startups like Perplexity and OpenAI that are "both implicitly and explicitly challenging big tech's long-standing dominance in web access," that report said. The goal is to make traditional internet interfaces obsolete via AI's digital retrieval dashboards. Rather than clicking through pages of links, PYMNTS wrote, modern consumers want immediate answers to their queries. AI can help with that in ways that traditional page rank algorithms and web access browser software cannot. "Picture this: Instead of typing 'best Italian restaurant in Brooklyn,' users can ask an AI agent -- which knows their budget, dietary restrictions and maybe even blood pressure -- and in seconds the reservation is booked," PYMNTS wrote. "Welcome to the AI interface era of the internet, and, one day, even commerce," the report added.
[10]
Perplexity Picks PayPal to Power Agentic Commerce Purchases | PYMNTS.com
Artificial intelligence (AI) search company Perplexity has launched a partnership with PayPal. The collaboration will see Perplexity use PayPal to power agentic commerce on its Perplexity Pro platform, according to a Wednesday (May 14) news release. Beginning this summer, U.S. consumers can check out instantly using PayPal or Venmo when they ask Perplexity to look for products, book travel or purchase tickets, per the announcement. "Perplexity wants to have accurate, trustworthy answers wherever people are making decisions. PayPal is a natural partner because we share a vision for how important trust is in the age of AI," Perplexity Co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas said in the release. "This partnership unlocks new possibilities, where conversations now drive commerce," PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss said. "We're making it easy and secure to shop right in the chat when inspiration strikes. It's a powerful step in making conversational commerce a reality." According to the release, the partnership integrates PayPal's commerce solutions, allowing users to buy products or services right in the Perplexity chat interface. It also expands Perplexity's commerce tools to PayPal's more than 430 million active accounts in roughly 200 markets, while employing that company's fraud detection and data security protocols, according to the release. This week also saw reports that Perplexity was in talks to reach a $14 billion valuation as it seeks to introduce its Comet browser to compete with tech giants like Google. As PYMNTS wrote in the wake of that news, this development could be a signal that "AI might already be poised to do to traditional internet and information gateways what WiFi did to the ethernet cable." In the middle of this shift are startups like Perplexity and OpenAI that are "both implicitly and explicitly challenging big tech's long-standing dominance in web access," that report said. The goal is to make traditional internet interfaces obsolete via AI's digital retrieval dashboards. Rather than clicking through pages of links, PYMNTS wrote, modern consumers want immediate answers to their queries. AI can help with that in ways that traditional page rank algorithms and web access browser software cannot. "Picture this: Instead of typing 'best Italian restaurant in Brooklyn,' users can ask an AI agent -- which knows their budget, dietary restrictions and maybe even blood pressure -- and in seconds the reservation is booked," PYMNTS wrote. "Welcome to the AI interface era of the internet, and, one day, even commerce," the report added.
[11]
PayPal Fuels Agentic Commerce on Perplexity Pro's Platform
The collaboration combines Perplexity Pro's AI capabilities with PayPal's payment system, offering a streamlined, user-friendly commerce experience. Agentic commerce, where shopping tasks are executed by AI, moves a step ahead with 's collaboration with's platform. The marriage of Perplexity Pro's AI chat with PayPal's secure, fast payments enables users to shop, book travel, or purchase tickets effortlessly. Launched on 13th May 2025, this partnership revolutionizes online shopping by combining convenience with trustworthiness. The next part discusses how this integration takes place, its advantages, and the effect it has on
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Perplexity AI and PayPal announce a groundbreaking partnership to enable direct purchases within Perplexity's chat interface, marking a significant advancement in AI-driven commerce.
Perplexity AI, the innovative search engine and chatbot, has announced a groundbreaking partnership with PayPal, set to transform the e-commerce landscape. Starting this summer in the United States, users will be able to make direct purchases within Perplexity's chat interface, marking a significant step towards "agentic commerce" 1.
The collaboration aims to streamline the entire shopping process, from product discovery to payment. Users of Perplexity Pro will be able to browse, book travel, and make purchases directly through the chat feature, with PayPal and Venmo serving as the accepted payment methods 2.
PayPal's technology chief, Srini Venkatesan, emphasized the company's role in facilitating this next-generation commerce: "The next generation of commerce is happening on the agentic side. People are starting to research and shop online through agents" 3.
Security concerns are at the forefront of this new shopping model. PayPal will implement its fraud detection and data security protocols to protect users' information. The company's ability to verify both buyers and sellers adds an extra layer of trust to the transactions 3.
This partnership positions Perplexity ahead of competitors like ChatGPT in offering in-app shopping capabilities. The AI-driven chat services for buying decisions have seen a 42% increase in the past year, with global sales influenced by AI reaching $229 billion between November and December 3.
The collaboration will extend Perplexity's commerce tools to PayPal's vast user base of more than 430 million active accounts across nearly 200 markets 2. This expansion signifies a major shift in how consumers interact with AI for their shopping needs.
As the AI race heats up, other major players are also exploring similar integrations. Visa and Mastercard have announced partnerships with AI platforms to introduce shopping features, indicating a broader industry trend towards AI-facilitated commerce 5.
While the exact details of the implementation are still emerging, this partnership between Perplexity and PayPal represents a significant step towards a future where AI assistants not only provide information but also complete transactions on behalf of users. As the technology develops, it has the potential to reshape the e-commerce landscape and consumer behavior in the coming years.
Reference
Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, introduces new shopping features for Pro users in the US, including 'Buy with Pro' and 'Snap to Shop', aiming to revolutionize product discovery and online purchasing.
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Visa and Mastercard introduce AI-powered shopping initiatives, allowing AI agents to make purchases on behalf of consumers. This move signals a significant shift in e-commerce and digital payments.
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Paytm partners with AI startup Perplexity to integrate AI-powered search into its app, aiming to provide real-time financial assistance and enhance digital literacy for millions of Indian users.
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AI shopping agents are emerging as powerful tools in e-commerce, offering personalized recommendations and autonomous purchasing. While they promise convenience and efficiency, concerns about privacy, manipulation, and consumer dependency persist.
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Tech companies are racing to develop AI-powered shopping assistants, but the technology still faces significant challenges in accuracy and user experience.
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