Tallinn: TECHz – News Desk
Bolt has officially launched a global integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, enabling customers to plan and initiate ride-hailing directly through the artificial intelligence platform.
Rolled out simultaneously across all of the company’s operating markets, this integration grants ChatGPT’s 900 million weekly users immediate access to Bolt’s mobility services. This strategic move establishes Bolt as the first ride-hailing application accessible via ChatGPT across the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. The integration is also concurrently available across Bolt’s African and other global markets.
The integration transforms the traditional app-based booking model into a seamless, conversational experience. Users can activate the Bolt functionality from the ChatGPT Plugins or Apps directory. Without leaving the AI assistant, customers can request trip information by inputting a destination to view available ride categories, evaluate costs and routes with upfront fare estimates, monitor the driver’s estimated time of arrival, and optimize pickups with AI-recommended locations to significantly reduce waiting times. Currently, once a user confirms their travel details within ChatGPT, the session transfers the data directly to the Bolt application, where the booking is finalized and payment is securely processed using existing linked payment methods.
This launch capitalizes on a rapid shift in how consumers utilize AI for everyday planning. According to Accenture’s Consumer Pulse Research 2025, which surveyed over 18,000 consumers across 14 countries, 80% of global travelers now utilize AI tools for travel-related purposes. Furthermore, more than half of the respondents expressed a willingness to let AI fully manage their travel arrangements. Paddy Partridge, Senior Vice President at Bolt, noted that people no longer plan their evening across multiple apps, as much of that planning now happens in one conversation with AI.
Caroline Wanjihia, Bolt’s Regional Director for Rides Operations in Africa and South East Asia, echoed this sentiment, stating that as conversational technology increasingly dominates daily digital interactions, requesting a ride should be as straightforward as asking, seeing the price, and going.
While the current launch focuses on AI-led discovery and journey planning – functioning as a conversational entry point rather than a fully agentic workflow – Bolt intends to deepen the integration. The company has announced plans to introduce direct, in-app payments within ChatGPT later in 2026. This future update will allow users to complete the entire transaction, from discovery to payment, entirely within the conversational interface.
