Google launches an open-source protocol for payments between AI agents

Google announcesa new project for the AI world: an open-source protocol for agent-agent payments

Google's new payments protocol will be used by artificial intelligence bots to complete transactions.

Project details

The protocol allows agents to request and receive payments from other accounts without any human approval, in a fully automated manner.

Currently, the system only works with debit/credit cards and stablecoins pegged to the US dollar. Google has not commented on a possible future integration of cryptocurrencies, but it might be possible later.

Google between AI and Web3

It seems that the company is increasingly entering the AI and Web3 space. The tech giant has had a complicated path with Web3, but recently acquired a major player, building its own Layer-1 blockchain and investing in a big deal with a Bitcoin mining company.

The way we built it starts from scratch, taking into account both existing payment assets and infrastructure, and emerging capabilities such as stablecoins,' James Tromans, Head of Web3 at Google Cloud, told reporters.

Google's new agent-agent payments protocol puts the company at the centre of the AI infrastructure. "The new protocol, which Google says has been developed with more than 60 other companies, paves the way for a fully autonomous digital payments environment for AI," he reported.

Google's new protocol partners

New partners include well-known companies such as Coinbase, Salesforce, American Express and Etsy. Coinbase is one of the main players involved in testing the blockchain functionality, having facilitated the first crypto-agent transaction.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is also among the partners, but ETH tokens are not currently supported. For now, the system only works with debit/credit cards and US dollar stablecoins, although future upgrades may include wider adoption of digital assets.

Cryptos may come in the future

The new project represents another example of the use of AI in the financial world. It will be interesting to see how the platform will develop and to what extent it will be adopted, as it could provide Google with a crucial advantage in creating the infrastructure for AI.