In a single week, OpenAI killed Instant Checkout and pivoted to visual discovery, Gap became the first major retailer to let you buy inside Gemini, Shopify opened its Universal Commerce Protocol to every brand, and Stripe shipped a protocol for agents to spend money without humans. The AI shopping land grab is happening in real time — but the industry is split on the most fundamental question: should you buy inside the AI, or should the AI send you back to the store?