On Tuesday, Google unveiled the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), a groundbreaking open protocol facilitating purchases by AI agents, endorsed by over 60 merchants and financial institutions. Designed for interoperability across AI platforms, payment systems, and vendors, AP2 ensures a traceable transaction history. Google executives emphasized collaboration and openness, inviting the tech and payments community to join this initiative.
The fully detailed specification is available on GitHub. AP2 enables AI agents to engage in real-time interactions, such as a user requesting a bike for a trip, allowing multiple AI agents to coordinate bookings seamlessly. Critical to this protocol are dual approvals: the “intent mandate” for item searches and the “cart mandate” for purchase finalization, ensuring an auditable record for fraud prevention.
Additionally, in collaboration with firms like Coinbase and Ethereum, Google integrated the x402 protocol to support cryptocurrency transactions. With backing from major financial players like Mastercard and PayPal, AP2 is poised to influence the future of automated purchasing significantly.
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