Expanded Support for Google's Agentic Commerce Protocol Gains Momentum
In a significant stride towards the future of automated commerce, Google has launched the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). This neutral, open-source framework aims to leverage the benefits of agentic AI, providing merchants, consumers, and third-party platforms with a secure and verifiable means of payments across multiple payment methods.
The AP2, backed by over 60 companies including Mastercard, PayPal, Coinbase, and Adobe, promises an open, standardized, and interoperable system. This collaboration marks a remarkable industry-wide effort, establishing an environment that ensures transparent user consent and audit trails for automated transactions.
The protocol works by having users sign digital contracts, or mandates, detailing their instructions for an AI agent. For instance, if a user asks an AI agent to buy tickets for the upcoming baseball playoffs, they would specify the desired price, purchase timing, and other key conditions in the mandate. Once these conditions are met, the initiator would sign a separate mandate granting the AI agent authority to complete the transaction.
Google has incorporated safeguards in AP2 that create an auditable trail for fraudulent transaction review. However, questions remain about consumer confidence in agentic commerce due to past AI agent exploitation by bad actors. Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, raises concerns about where liability falls when an AI agent operates outside its authorized scope. He also questions how consumers can know if the AI agent is working in their best interest or steering them towards purchases where the agent receives a commission.
Google's goal with AP2 is to provide an open, agnostic framework for the industry, similar to its recent blockchain launch. The company has secured support from credit card giants like Mastercard and American Express, fintechs such as PayPal and Alipay, crypto companies including Coinbase and MetaMask, Etsy, Intuit, and Salesforce.
While the guardrails in AP2 may not be enough to entice consumers to fully hand over control to AI agents, the promise of a secure and standardized system could pave the way for wider adoption of agentic commerce. Use cases for AI agents continue to emerge, and with Google taking a leadership role in establishing a framework for their secure operation, the future of automated transactions looks promising.
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