Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Thursday rolled out a new payment infrastructure for AI agents built in collaboration with Coinbase and Stripe.
AWS explained that autonomous software agents will be allowed to purchase APIs, web content, MCP servers and other online services in real time using stablecoins. However, it added that future versions will eventually support larger purchases such as hotel reservations, travel reservations and grocery payments.
“Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Payments” is designed for AWS, described as the new “agentic economy” where AI agents act independently inside a single execution loop.
The first version of the system focuses on micropayments, allowing agents to instantly pay for APIs, data feeds, paywalled content and other digital services, often for fractions of a cent, AWS said.
Bedrock is built on Coinbase’s x402, the HTTP-native payment protocol for driving agent-to-agent transactions with stablecoins, while Stripe’s Privy wallet is used as the payment connection.
“There will soon be more AI agents trading than humans, and they need money built for the Internet — programmable, always-on and global,” said Brian Foster, Coinbase’s head of infrastructure growth.
Foster’s words echo those of Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, who agree that all activity on the Internet will soon be performed by AI agents.
Stripe said this rollout is part of a broader push to build financial infrastructure for autonomous AI trading. “For agents to become meaningful financial actors, they need a way to hold and spend money,” said Henri Stern, CEO of Privy, a Stripe company.
AWS added that the platform is protocol agnostic, although x402 is the first supported standard at launch. The broader goal is to create infrastructure for autonomous software agents capable of conducting commercial 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 releases.
