PhonePe has joined hands with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT directly into its app to offer AI-powered assistance into routine digital payments.
Users will be able to get help with tasks like travel planning, product searches, and comparing options without leaving the app. Rather than offering a full ChatGPT interface, PhonePe will weave specific AI tools that guide users during specific actions like for travel planning, shopping and general informative discovery.
With this, PhonePe became one of the first major UPI platforms in India to embed a conversational AI assistant within its consumer-facing services. The company plans to introduce these tools across both its consumer and merchant apps.
According to OpenAI, the collaboration aligns with its broader goal of expanding AI access throughout India. Oliver Jay, OpenAI’s Head of International, has highlighted that India is seeing rapid adoption of AI tools, and PhonePe’s extensive user base makes it a strategic partner for bringing these technologies to the mainstream.
The integration is especially focused on payment-related decisions. OpenAI will be available through the Indus Appstore. Users can ask for budget travel ideas, merchant details, or service comparisons before completing a UPI transaction, and the AI will offer relevant suggestions.
This partnership comes amid a string of OpenAI initiatives in India. The company recently opened its first local office in Mumbai and announced plans for a large-scale, 1GW data centre backed by an investment commitment of around Rs 20,000 crore. It has also worked with Razorpay and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on pilots that test AI-assisted UPI payments, enabling conversational interactions for completing transactions.
To encourage broader adoption, OpenAI is offering Indian users complimentary access to ChatGPT Go for 12 months. The company expects that early exposure to its AI tools will lead more users to explore advanced features and potentially transition to paid plans.
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