Square integrates ChatGPT and Claude for direct restaurant orders without marketplace fees

Block's Square integrated ChatGPT and Claude for direct restaurant orders, allowing consumers to browse menus and place orders without marketplace fees. The AI-powered ordering system uses Square's processing infrastructure, charging only standard fees instead of the 15-30% commissions typical of platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats.

Square integrates ChatGPT and Claude for direct restaurant orders without marketplace fees Block's payments subsidiary is letting AI chatbots place food orders for consumers while ditching the commission fees that have long eaten into restaurant margins Square just turned ChatGPT and Claude into restaurant ordering apps, and it’s not charging the marketplace fees that have made platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats a four-letter word for restaurant owners. The Block subsidiary announced on July 1 that US food and beverage merchants using Square Online Ordering are now automatically included in AI-powered conversations on both OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Consumers can browse menus, discover nearby restaurants, and place orders directly inside those AI platforms. The only cost to merchants is standard Square processing fees, not the double-digit commission rates that traditional delivery marketplaces typically extract. How the integration actually works The setup is designed to require zero technical lift from restaurant owners. Eligible US Square Food & Beverage merchants are automatically opted in at no extra cost. Orders flow through Square’s “Order by Cash App” infrastructure, which connects Block’s consumer-facing app to the merchant side of the equation. A customer asks Claude “what’s good for Thai food near me,” and the AI can surface real menus, handle the order, and process payment, all without the customer ever opening a separate app. This is what the industry is calling “agentic commerce,” a term for AI agents that don’t just answer questions but actually complete transactions on behalf of users. Square is also collaborating with Amazon on Alexa integrations, suggesting the company views voice and chat-based AI as a major new order channel. The company had already been moving in this direction: Square rolled out an AI voice ordering feature back in October 2025, so the ChatGPT and Claude plugins represent an expansion of a thesis that’s been building for months. Why the fee structure matters more than the AI Third-party delivery platforms have historically charged restaurants commissions ranging from 15% to 30% per order. For an industry where profit margins already hover in the single digits, those fees have been existential. During the pandemic, cities across the US actually passed legislation capping delivery app commissions because they were draining restaurants dry. Square’s decision to process AI-driven transactions without marketplace commissions positions the company not as another middleman skimming off the top, but as infrastructure that merchants happen to use. The revenue comes from payment processing fees, which are a known cost restaurants already budget for, rather than a variable commission that scales with order size. Agentic shoppers are projected to contribute nearly $385 billion in US e-commerce spending by 2030, and 42% of consumers reportedly already use AI tools for shopping tasks. Square is essentially planting its flag early in what could become a massive ordering channel. The crypto angle hiding in plain sight Square doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s a subsidiary of Block, Inc., which has been one of the most Bitcoin-forward public companies in the US for years. Cash App, Block’s consumer product and the same app powering the “Order by Cash App” infrastructure behind these AI integrations, already supports Bitcoin buying, selling, and sending. Block’s CEO Jack Dorsey has been vocal about Bitcoin’s role in the future of payments, and the company holds Bitcoin on its corporate balance sheet. No crypto payment option was explicitly announced with the ChatGPT and Claude integrations. But the Cash App infrastructure that processes these AI-driven restaurant orders is the same infrastructure that handles Bitcoin transactions for millions of users. Block hasn’t announced anything specific on this front, so treat this as structural positioning rather than an imminent feature launch. Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/ .