In this issue

🛒 OpenAI launches Instant Checkout in ChatGPT
🏬 Mugsy stacks some wins
🤖 Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.5
💸 Amazon’s $2.5B FTC settlement
💻 Meta inks $14.2B AI deal with CoreWeave
🛠 Shopify updates
📉 Tai Lopez & Alex Mehr accused of Ponzi scheme
🎵 Daniel Ek steps down as Spotify CEO
🧸 Build-A-Bear outpaces Microsoft
🤑 OpenAI’s finances

STORY OF THE WEEK

OpenAI launches Instant Checkout in ChatGPT

OpenAI announced Instant Checkout, a new feature that lets users buy products directly inside ChatGPT.

• The feature currently supports single-item purchases from U.S. Etsy sellers.

• Over a million Shopify merchants, like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx and Vuori, coming soon.

• Available to U.S. users on ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Free plans.

• Powered by OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, built with Stripe.

• Users can pay with cards already linked to their ChatGPT accounts.

The market reacted quickly to the news. Etsy shares jumped nearly 16% and Shopify rose more than 6% following the announcement.

OpenAI said it will collect a fee on transactions, though details weren’t disclosed. Instant Checkout is free for users and does not affect product prices. Multi-item carts and wider availability are planned.

Read the full announcement from OpenAI.

STORE OF THE WEEK

Mugsy

Our friends over at Mugsy have been stacking wins this fall. The denim brand has leaned into creative marketing, collabs, and big retail partnerships.

Recent highlights:

• Partnered with REALTREE on a collab drop

• Landed Target as a national retail partner

• Rolled out a hilarious video featuring Super Bowl champs Brian Hoyer & David Andrews running their Boston store (watch here)

asap_cael

2,069 followers

View more on Instagram

Behind those wins is a store that’s helping power their growth. When Mugsy’s old Shopify site started slowing them down, they turned to Platter to rebuild. The result was a faster, easier-to-manage storefront that freed the team from dev bottlenecks:

• +15% conversion rate year over year

• +4% higher AOV

• $80,000 in annual savings after switching to Platter

Read the full Mugsy x Platter case study.

OTHER NEWS THIS WEEK

Anthropic drops Sonnet 4.5

Anthropic calls it “the best coding model in the world.” Sonnet 4.5 can run autonomously for 30+ hours. Read Anthropic’s full announcement.

Amazon’s $2.5B FTC settlement

Amazon will pay one of the largest FTC settlements in history after allegedly tricking millions into Prime sign-ups with dark patterns. Read more.

Meta inks $14.2B AI deal with CoreWeave

CoreWeave will supply Meta with $14.2B in GPU infrastructure, a move that could strengthen the AI systems behind the ads ecommerce brands rely on. Read more.

SHOPIFY UPDATES OF THE WEEK

Here are the most relevant releases this week:

Market pricing in Draft Orders (Sep 30)

Draft Order checkouts now respect market-based pricing when customers change shipping addresses.

Sales tax on DDU orders (Sep 29)

Sales tax is now captured on international DDU orders when merchants collect taxes in the destination country.

Custom POS receipts (Sep 29)

You can now customize return and exchange receipts in POS with the same Liquid editor used for sales receipts.

See all of Shopify’s updates in their changelog.

OTHER INTERESTING CONTENT

Tai Lopez & Alex Mehr accused of Ponzi scheme

Remember Tai Lopez’s garage full of Lamborghinis? Turns out he may have paid with them using $112M raised through a Ponzi scheme. Read the full story.

Daniel Ek stepping down as Spotify CEO

Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek announced he’ll step down as CEO in 2026 after nearly 20 years leading the company from startup to 600M+ users. Shares dipped on the news as investors wait to see who takes over. Watch Ek’s video or read Yahoo Finance coverage.

Build-A-Bear outpaces Microsoft

The 27-year-old toy company is beating tech giants on Wall Street. Build-A-Bear’s stock has surged more than 2,000% over the past five years, fueled by “really emotional, memorable experiences” that keep customers coming back. Read more.

OpenAI’s growth comes with a massive price tag

Leaked numbers show OpenAI hit $4.3B in revenue in the first half of 2025 — up 16% year over year — but burned through $8.5B in cash, with $2.5B going to R&D and stock payments. The company projects $13B in annual revenue but faces massive server rental costs ahead. Read more.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading. If you’re ever curious about how Platter helps brands like Mugsy, Neuro, and Every Man Jack get more from their Shopify storefronts, you can check us out here.