OpenAI keeps circling back to shopping, and this time it’s betting on something visual.
The company announced Thursday that ChatGPT can now generate a preview of clothes on your own photo, part of a new Virtual Try On feature rolling out globally alongside a saving tool called Favorites.
How do Virtual Try On and Favorites actually work?
It’s simple. Upload a selfie or full-body photo, then hit the new “try on” button in ChatGPT’s shopping results. Alternatively, you can upload a screenshot of an item and ask it to try that on instead.
You can also describe a look, a black-tie dress with a halter neckline, say, and ChatGPT will shop the pieces. Or you can do something that I’ve done a couple of times: upload a celebrity outfit and ask it to find similar items.
The new feature runs on the new ChatGPT Images 2.5 model. Compared to the previous one, it renders more natural lighting and texture, with less lag. Favorites saves anything you like, plus your try-on shots, to a Library so that you can view them later.
Why is OpenAI doing this now?
Both features work in tandem. You discover things via Visual Try On and decide through experimentation. Then, you either buy them or save them for later (a feature that e-commerce platforms already have).
As for the timing, ChatGPT already has over 1.2 billion weekly users, many of whom turn to it for shopping inspiration. Hence, OpenAI is building on an existing habit rather than inventing one.
That track record is mixed, though. An earlier Instant Checkout feature reportedly underperformed. Furthermore, rival startup Instinct caught backlash this week for recommendations that felt more like ads than help.
The idea behind Try On isn’t new either. Google shipped something similar in July 2025. So, OpenAI is basically catching up with Google, and in a similar but not exactly identical way, with Pinterest in fashion discovery. Whether shoppers trust an AI’s rendering of themselves remains the real question.
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