AWS, Coinbase, and Stripe build payment rails for bots

Amazon Web Services (AWS) rolled out a new payments infrastructure for AI agents on Thursday which is built in partnership with Coinbase and Stripe.

AWS explained that autonomous software agents will be allowed to buy APIs, web content, MCP servers and other online services in real time using stablecoins. It added, however, that future versions would eventually support larger purchases such as hotel bookings, travel reservations and merchant payments.

“Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Payments” is designed for AWS described as the emerging “agentic economy”, where AI agents transact 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 powering agent-to-agent transactions with stablecoins, while Stripe’s Privy wallet is being used as a payment connection.

“There will soon be more AI agents transacting than humans, and they need money that’s 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 of Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson, who agree that shortly all activity on the internet will be conducted by AI agents.

Stripe said this roll-out 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 money,” said Henri Stern, CEO of Privy, a Stripe company.

AWS added that the platform is protocol-agnostic, though x402 is the first supported standard at launch. The broader goal is to create infrastructure for autonomous software agents capable of completing 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.