How Is eBay Boosting SMEs With AI and ChatGPT?

eBay is collaborating with OpenAI on a £3m programme to give 10,000 UK small businesses free access to ChatGPT Enterprise, accompanied by training on how to use artificial intelligence tools.

The initiative, named AI Activate, aims to provide sellers on the marketplace with the AI tools at no cost.

Participating businesses will receive up to 12 months of access to ChatGPT Enterprise, offering features not found in consumer accounts such as enhanced data privacy controls and higher usage limits.

Applying AI to bridge the productivity gap

Small businesses are a vital part of the UK economy, accounting for three-fifths of employment and around half of private sector turnover.

The AI Activate programme targets eBay sellers with training to help them apply AI to tasks like financial analysis, marketing campaigns and business research.

eBay will deliver this training through virtual sessions initially, with in-person events planned for 2026. A dedicated team will also help businesses create custom GPTs, which are versions of ChatGPT tailored for specific workflows.

Eve Williams, General Manager of eBay UK, says the issue is no longer about whether to adopt AI, but “how quickly they can start before their competitors do”.

She warns that businesses and economies that fail to invest in AI now “risk being left behind”, with research cited by eBay indicating that 69% of online businesses in the UK feel either excited or curious about AI's potential.

eBay’s internal AI integration

eBay's move reflects its own strategy of integrating AI across its operations. eBay is the first online marketplace to provide OpenAI’s enterprise tools with free training to its business customers.

Employees at eBay globally also have access to ChatGPT Enterprise to support their work.

The marketplace deploys generative AI tools to help sellers create product listings.

To date, more than 10 million sellers have used these tools to create over 300 million listings, with over 500,000 new listings generated daily with AI assistance.

“AI is reshaping ecommerce and eBay is all-in,” says Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov, Chief AI Officer (CAIO) at eBay.

“We see this as a generational opportunity to reimagine buying and selling for our customers.”

Addressing AI adoption barriers

The AI Activate initiative aims to lower common adoption barriers for smaller businesses, such as cost and a lack of technical expertise, which often see them lag behind larger firms.

By providing both the software and the necessary training, eBay’s programme addresses these challenges for companies on its platform.

OpenAI’s enterprise offering includes administrative controls and data handling agreements distinct from its consumer accounts, addressing business concerns around data security and compliance.

Ronnie Chatterji, Chief Economist at OpenAI, says that for too long, small businesses “have not had the tools to generate increases in productivity the way larger firms do”.

He believes this collaboration could change that by putting “world-class AI tools in the hands of 10,000 UK entrepreneurs”.

Eve Williams adds: “We want British small businesses to win nationally and globally, which means that the latest AI tools cannot be the preserve of big business. They should be in the hands of every small business in Britain.”