Mastercard Launches AI Payment Protocol "Agent Pay for AI", Enabling Direct AI-to-AI Payments

Mastercard has announced the launch of a new payment protocol called "Agent Pay for AI," designed to enable artificial intelligence (AI) agents to conveniently make small payments to each other, such as paying on a per-use basis when accessing website data. Mastercard's Chief Product Officer, Jorn Lambert, stated that while the project will not become a major revenue source in the short term, it is expected to open up a new scalable market over the next five years. He also predicted that AI chatbots will eventually play a significant role in e-commerce transactions and could foster a payment ecosystem between robots.

It is reported that the protocol uses blockchain to record the operational permissions granted to AI agents by humans, ensuring the agents execute tasks as instructed. Initially, Mastercard has chosen to store this permission information on the Ethereum-based Polygon network. Other enterprises involved in developing this protocol include fintech company Adyen, crypto exchange Coinbase, and web hosting giant Cloudflare. (Fortune)