PYPL PAYPAL HOLDINGS INC $44.7B

What they are doing

PayPal's 2025 annual report says it uses artificial intelligence and machine learning in fraud prevention, risk management, product optimization, and customer service. That sentence sits in a regulation risk factor. No program is named, and no result is given. The same filing says PayPal wants shoppers to be able to pay through AI agents. That is a checkout surface, not a score inside authorization or fraud. The reported transaction-loss rate is not tied to a model. On the 27 October 2026 call, Enrique Lores said a new risk platform, using real-time data and AI, cut credit decision times nearly in half in Canada, Italy, and Spain. He did not tie that platform to the transaction-loss rate. AI chat agents resolved 24 million contacts. That is a help line. Agentic checkout is not a fraud score. The published score is still 5. The recommendation, not yet accepted, is Reach 2, Weight 2, Proof 3, total 7.

Why the score

• Reach 1 not 2: the uses are a list, not one function we can see running.
• Weight 2 not 3: named fraud prevention, with no project and no result. Agent checkout does not change the payment decision.
• Proof 2 not 3: named in the 10-K and tied to fraud prevention. Not in the loop.

What would move it next quarter: A fraud or approval rate on the risk platform. Decision time in three countries will not move Weight to 3.

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Evidence