Ride-hailing firm Bolt is preparing to launch a payment feature within ChatGPT, allowing users to pay for rides directly inside the AI platform. The rollout is scheduled for late 2026, following an earlier integration that already enables customers to check ride prices, view route options, and see driver arrival times through conversations with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Currently, booking completion still requires switching to the Bolt app, but the upcoming update aims to eliminate that step. Bolt described the move as part of its strategy to meet users where they are increasingly planning daily activities—inside AI assistants.
The company highlighted that 80% of global travellers now use AI tools for travel planning, citing Accenture's Consumer Pulse Research 2025, which surveyed 18,000 people across 14 countries. By integrating deeply with ChatGPT, Bolt gains access to its 900 million weekly users, vastly expanding its potential reach beyond its current 200 million users across over 50 countries. Services include ride-hailing, e-bikes, scooters, and car rentals. Teddy Appah-Dankyi, Bolt's Senior General Manager for West Africa, said people now prefer to plan entire outings in a single AI conversation rather than juggle multiple apps. "Requesting a ride should be just as straightforward: ask, see the price, and go," he stated.
Bolt's plan to enable payments inside ChatGPT hinges on a feature that does not yet exist. The company is counting on OpenAI delivering a functional in-chat transaction system by 2026, two years after initial integration. Until then, the user experience remains split between chat and app, limiting the claimed seamlessness.
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