Key Takeaways
- NPCI and Razorpay partner with OpenAI to pilot UPI payments within ChatGPT.
- Users can chat, explore products, and complete purchases directly in the AI interface.
- The system uses UPI’s ‘Reserve Pay’ for enhanced transaction safety.
- India’s AI payments race heats up as Cashfree announces a competing solution.
India is launching a groundbreaking pilot project that will enable users to make payments through ChatGPT using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and fintech firm Razorpay have partnered with Microsoft-backed OpenAI for this initiative, announced on Thursday.
The project aims to test how artificial intelligence can securely handle real payments through conversational AI.
ChatGPT as Your Shopping Assistant
The pilot introduces ‘agentic AI’ – artificial intelligence that performs tasks with minimal human intervention. This system allows users to chat, explore products, and complete purchases entirely within ChatGPT.
“Agentic payments are the next big step in AI innovation,” said Harshil Mathur, CEO of Razorpay. “We’re turning AI assistants from simple discovery tools into full shopping companions.”
Enhanced Security with UPI Reserve Pay
The service operates on UPI’s latest ‘Reserve Pay’ feature, which lets users reserve funds for specific merchants before completing purchases, adding an extra security layer.
India’s AI Payments Competition Heats Up
Oliver Jay, OpenAI’s Managing Director for International Strategy, expressed excitement about collaborating with NPCI to explore how AI can integrate with one of the world’s most trusted real-time payment systems.
The pilot will study how AI-driven UPI payments can securely expand to more sectors.
Meanwhile, rival fintech firm announced its own agentic AI payments solution for merchants, indicating rapid growth in India’s AI-payments integration race.
Upcoming Health Features for ChatGPT
In related developments, OpenAI’s chatbot may soon receive significant health-focused capabilities through a forthcoming ‘Clinician Mode’.
Engineer Tibor Blaho from AI firm AIPRM discovered code references to this mode in the ChatGPT web app. While details remain limited, ‘Clinician Mode’ could provide a dedicated interface for preliminary medical guidance before consulting healthcare professionals.
(With inputs from Reuters)
