Core Viewpoint - The emergence of AI agents capable of making payments autonomously is a significant trend in the AI application and business model landscape, with various companies developing solutions to facilitate this capability [4][20]. Group 1: Steps for Agent Payment - The process of enabling agent payment involves several steps, including research tools for inventory, communication tools for supplier interaction, note-taking for financial tracking, customer interaction capabilities, and price adjustment functionalities [7]. - Recent developments indicate that companies like Mastercard and Visa have launched AI agent payment solutions, while PayPal introduced its first MCP server, allowing LLMs to generate invoices and share payment links automatically [9][20]. Group 2: Key AI Products with Payment Integration - Perplexity Pro Shopping allows users to complete purchases directly within a chatbot interface, representing an early attempt at integrating agent and commerce [11]. - Stripe's Agent Toolkit provides virtual cards with customizable spending limits, addressing security and spending control for agent transactions [12]. - Shopify Sidekick automates product descriptions, promotions, and order processing, serving as an AI assistant for merchants [13]. - Adyen Uplift offers middleware services for AI agents, optimizing payment routes and retry mechanisms [14]. - Operator from OpenAI marks the beginning of a general agent framework, although it currently lacks payment integration [15]. - Mastercard's AgentPay distributes virtual cards to agents, enhancing their role in payment networks [16]. - Visa's Intelligence Commerce uses network tokens for transactions, ensuring security and budget control for AI agents [17]. - PayPal's MCP Server simplifies invoice generation and payment link sharing, making it easier for small businesses to implement payment solutions [18]. Group 3: Challenges in Achieving Autonomous Agent Payment - Three core challenges in achieving agent payment autonomy include defining the agent's role and scope, addressing fraud and KYA (Know Your Agent) issues, and clarifying liability in transactions [21][23][24]. - The ambiguity surrounding the agent's authority and the merchant's ability to verify agent interactions complicates the establishment of a secure payment framework [23]. - The responsibility for costs and liabilities in transactions involving agents remains unclear, particularly in scenarios like returns [26]. Group 4: Future Models of Agent Payment - Potential future models for agent payment include collaborative checkout with human oversight, authority derived from user wallets, limited payment capabilities through virtual cards, and agents possessing their own wallets funded by stablecoins [27].