Visa, the world's largest credit card provider, aims to significantly expand the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in online commerce. While AI-assisted advisors like ChatGPT or Claude have so far only been able to act in an advisory capacity and the user has still had to initiate transactions themselves, the technology is expected to be able to operate completely independently in the future. At an event in San Francisco, Visa explained that AI should be able to make purchases and initiate payments independently in the future.

Ryan McInerney, CEO of Visa, clarified that the technology has so far primarily been used for fraud prevention. But now he sees great potential to "fundamentally change" online commerce. Visa not only wants to cooperate with leading AI providers OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic, but also collaborate with heavyweights like Microsoft and Samsung. A corresponding AI-supported payment system is expected to be available in North America by the end of the year and in Europe by 2026.

The functioning of the system is based on the concept of "Intelligent Commerce". Customers can equip their AI assistant with a credit card, similar to mobile payment services like Apple Pay. After the user assigns a task to the AI – such as booking a flight – they can also set limits, such as a maximum budget. The AI will then autonomously act and execute the order without the user having to intervene.

However, it remains unclear how Visa will handle potential errors or so-called "hallucinations" of the AI. In such a case, an internal system is supposed to review the decisions of the AI in the background. However, the question of liability remains open, and Visa promises to find solutions for this.

Additionally, users can share their payment history to enable AI to consider preferences and shopping habits. Visa has emphasized that the fundamental structure of the transaction fee system will not change, while a possible additional fee for AI-based payments has not yet been decided.

The collaboration with OpenAI, whose AI assistant ChatGPT has already handled numerous trade inquiries, was emphasized by both sides. Sarah Friar, CFO of OpenAI, stated that users are increasingly being supported by AI assistants in purchasing decisions. The ability to buy directly in the chat window is no longer a question of the future, but already reality.

In a market where digital commerce is increasingly influenced by AI systems, Visa seems well positioned with this new strategy to benefit from the growing opportunities of technology. However, how the business model will develop in the long term remains to be seen.