Perplexity partners with PayPal for in-chat purchases
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Perplexity AI said it had partnered with PayPal to enable direct purchases within its chat interface, allowing US users to check out instantly with PayPal or Venmo when they ask Perplexity Pro to find products, book travel or buy tickets.
The entire process, including payment and invoicing, will occur behind the scenes through PayPal's account linking and passkey checkout, that way eliminating “the need for passwords” and “streamline the experience to a single user query or click.”
PayPal will also handle shipping, tracking and invoicing, the company said in a statement.
The numbers: The partnership will expand Perplexity’s commerce tools to PayPal’s more than 430 million active accounts across nearly 200 markets.
The context: Perplexity is expanding its e-commerce offerings in the growing agentic commerce sector, where AI agents autonomously handle consumer transactions. It previously added shopping features for paid US users and integrations with services like Shopify.
PayPal competitors Visa and Mastercard also recently introduced AI-powered payment systems.
It also comes as the startup – backed by Jeff Bezos, Nvidia and Softbank - is reportedly in advanced talks to raise USD500 million in a funding round led by Accel, valuing it at USD14 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apple has also held talks with Perplexity and others about adding its AI search features onto Safari.
The sources: PayPal release, Reuters
