On Thursday, Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched new payments infrastructure for artificial intelligence agents, built in partnership with Coinbase and Stripe.
AWS explained that autonomous software agents will be allowed to use stablecoins to purchase APIs, web content, MCP servers, and other online services in real time. However, it added that future versions will eventually support larger purchases such as hotel bookings, travel bookings and merchant payments.
“Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Payments” are designed for AWS in what is known as the emerging “agent economy,” in which AI agents conduct transactions independently within a single execution loop.
AWS said the first version of the system focuses on micropayments, allowing agents to instantly pay for APIs, data sources, paid content and other digital services, often for less than a cent.
Bedrock is built on Coinbase’s x402, an HTTP-native payments protocol used to support inter-agent transactions using stablecoins, while Stripe’s Privy wallet is used as the payment connection.
“Soon, there will be more AI agents conducting transactions than humans, and they will need money built for the internet — programmable, always-on, global,” said Brian Foster, head of infrastructure growth at Coinbase.
Foster’s comments echo those of Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, who all agree that soon all activity on the internet will be conducted by artificial intelligence agents.
Stripe said the launch is part of a broader push to build financial infrastructure for autonomous AI commerce. “For agents to become meaningful economic actors, they need a way to hold and spend their money,” said Henri Stern, CEO of Stripe company Privy.
AWS added that the platform is protocol agnostic, although x402 was the first supported standard at launch. The broader goal is to create an infrastructure for autonomous software agents capable of completing business transactions on behalf of users.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which is already testing Amazon’s Bedrock AgentCore, said it sees potential for agent-driven transactions involving premium content, including live sports and major entertainment content.
