Google Launches Agent Payments Protocol, Meta AI Expert Joins Menlo Ventures

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Google is making significant strides in enabling AI-driven commerce with its new open-source Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). This protocol allows AI applications to send and receive payments securely and autonomously, supporting a range of methods including stablecoins, credit cards, and bank transfers. Key partners in this initiative include Coinbase and the Ethereum Foundation for stablecoin integration, alongside over 60 organizations such as Salesforce, American Express, and PayPal for traditional payment methods. AP2 introduces a two-step approval process, an 'intent mandate' and a 'cart mandate', to ensure secure and auditable transactions. Meanwhile, the burgeoning demand for AI is impacting the hardware market, driving up prices for HDDs and SSDs due to massive data needs for training and model checkpoints, with lead times for high-capacity HDDs extending over a year. In the venture capital world, Menlo Ventures has promoted Deedy Das, a former Google and Meta employee with expertise in AI, to Partner, highlighting the firm's focus on AI investments, including a $100 million fund. Elsewhere, CBIZ has launched its Vertical Vector AI platform for middle-market businesses, integrating with Microsoft Azure AI to streamline AI adoption. Trading Central has introduced FIBI, an AI financial assistant, to provide market insights. Verizon's CFO sees AI as a revenue opportunity, planning to leverage existing infrastructure for AI workloads. Experts are also warning that the rapid growth of AI startups could widen the wealth gap due to job displacement and wealth concentration. Stony Brook University received a $13.77 million grant for a national AI supercomputer to provide researchers with advanced computing resources.

Key Takeaways

Google has launched the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open-source system for AI-driven payments, supporting stablecoins, credit cards, and bank transfers.
Key partners for Google's AP2 include Coinbase, the Ethereum Foundation, Salesforce, American Express, and PayPal.
The high demand for AI is causing shortages and price increases for HDDs and SSDs, with lead times for high-capacity HDDs exceeding one year.
Menlo Ventures promoted Deedy Das, an AI expert formerly at Google and Meta, to Partner, co-launching a $100 million fund.
CBIZ launched Vertical Vector AI, a platform for middle-market businesses, integrating with Microsoft Azure AI.
Trading Central introduced FIBI, an AI-powered financial assistant for market insights.
Verizon's CFO views AI as a revenue source, planning to offer AI processing power at the edge.
Experts warn that AI's growth could exacerbate wealth inequality by threatening jobs and concentrating wealth.
Stony Brook University received a $13.77 million grant from the NSF for a national AI supercomputer.
DataXstream's OMS+ Intelligent Automation solution has been certified by SAP for AI integration.

Google and Coinbase team up for crypto payments in AI

Google is launching a new AI payments protocol that works with stablecoins and credit cards. They are partnering with Coinbase and other crypto firms like the Ethereum Foundation. This new system makes it easier for AI applications to send and receive payments securely. The goal is to enable fast, automated transactions between AI services.

Google introduces Agent Payments Protocol for AI purchases

Google has launched the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open system for purchases made by AI agents. This protocol is supported by over 60 merchants and financial institutions. It allows AI platforms and vendors to interact seamlessly, creating a traceable record for each transaction. AP2 requires two approvals for purchases: an 'intent mandate' to search and a 'cart mandate' for final approval, ensuring secure and auditable AI-driven commerce.

Google's new AI payment protocol supports stablecoins

Google has released a new open-source protocol that allows AI applications to send and receive payments, including stablecoins. The company partnered with Coinbase and the Ethereum Foundation for stablecoin support, and collaborated with over 60 organizations like Salesforce for other payment methods. This protocol builds on Google's previous work to standardize communication between AI agents, ensuring secure and reliable transactions.

Google enables AI payments with stablecoin support via Coinbase

Google has updated its open-source protocol to allow AI applications to send and receive payments, including stablecoins. They partnered with Coinbase and the Ethereum Foundation for crypto integration, and worked with Salesforce, American Express, and Etsy for traditional finance. This initiative aims to make AI transactions secure and interoperable, building on Google's earlier framework for agent-to-agent communication.

Google's Agent Payments Protocol standardizes AI transactions

Google has launched the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open framework for AI-driven payments. This protocol supports various payment types, including cards, stablecoins, and bank transfers, with backing from companies like Adyen, Mastercard, and PayPal. AP2 uses 'Mandates' to verify AI agent authorization and intent, ensuring secure and accountable transactions. It aims to make AI-initiated payments as trustworthy as traditional ones.

Google launches AI payment protocol with stablecoin support

Google has released an open-source standard for AI agents to send and receive money, including stablecoins. Developed with Coinbase and over 60 firms like Salesforce and American Express, this protocol extends Google's April framework for agent communication into payments. It aims to enable secure, auditable, and autonomous transactions between software agents, supporting both card networks and on-chain assets.

Menlo Ventures promotes Deedy Das to Partner

Menlo Ventures has promoted Deedy Das, an AI expert, to Partner at the age of 31. Das joined Menlo Ventures less than two years ago after working at Google and Meta. His promotion highlights the firm's focus on AI investments, including companies like Anthropic and Pinecone. Das is known for his technical expertise in evaluating AI startups and guiding founders.

Kolkata-born Deedy Das becomes Partner at Menlo Ventures

Deedy Das, a technologist from Kolkata, has been promoted to Partner at Menlo Ventures after just 18 months with the firm. He previously worked at Google and Facebook, and was a founding team member at Glean. Das is recognized for his expertise in AI and venture investing, co-launching the $100 million Anthology Fund. He has advised and invested in numerous AI startups.

AI could soon change airline ticket prices

Artificial intelligence may soon be used by airlines to set ticket prices. This technology could impact how much consumers pay for flights and how their personal information is protected.

CBIZ launches Vertical Vector AI platform for businesses

CBIZ has launched Vertical Vector AI, a new artificial intelligence platform designed for middle-market businesses. The tool aims to help companies use AI effectively and securely by integrating with existing systems like Microsoft Azure AI. Vertical Vector AI offers features such as workflow optimization and a built-in prompt library to accelerate AI adoption and drive business results.

Trading Central introduces FIBI AI financial assistant

Trading Central has launched FIBI, an AI-powered financial assistant, across its research tools. FIBI uses proprietary AI technologies trained by data scientists and financial analysts. It provides actionable and compliance-friendly market insights, offering a trustworthy experience for investors of all levels. FIBI aims to bridge the gap between complex analysis and easy-to-understand information.

AI drives demand for storage, causing HDD and SSD price hikes

The high demand for AI is putting pressure on the storage market, leading to shortages and price increases for hard drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs). Lead times for high-capacity HDDs have extended to over a year. Companies like Western Digital are raising prices due to unprecedented demand. This trend is driven by the massive data needs of generative AI, including training datasets and model checkpoints.

Verizon CFO sees AI as a revenue source

Verizon's CFO, Tony Skiadas, is exploring ways to use the company's existing infrastructure to support AI workloads and generate new revenue. Verizon is repurposing central offices, freed up by fiber network upgrades, to provide AI processing power at the edge. This initiative, called Verizon AI Connect, aims to serve large tech companies needing AI infrastructure. The company is also using AI internally to improve efficiency and customer service.

AI could widen wealth gap, experts warn

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence startups, with high valuations based on eliminating human labor, could significantly increase wealth inequality. While AI promises efficiency and innovation, it also threatens jobs across various sectors, from coding to service industries. This could lead to unprecedented wealth concentration among AI entrepreneurs and investors, potentially exacerbating social and economic divisions.

DataXstream's OMS+ IA certified by SAP for AI integration

DataXstream's OMS+ Intelligent Automation (IA) solution has been certified by SAP as built with SAP Business AI. This certification confirms that OMS+ IA meets SAP's standards for trustworthy AI and integrates with SAP's generative AI Hub. The platform helps SAP customers streamline order management with features like document automation, an AI chatbot, and smart search, driving business value through intelligent automation.

Stony Brook University gets $13.77M grant for national AI supercomputer

Stony Brook University has received a $13.77 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to deploy a national supercomputer. This system will provide researchers nationwide with access to advanced computing resources for artificial intelligence and scientific research. It will utilize energy-efficient processors and AI accelerators to handle large workloads cost-effectively, aiming to democratize access to AI tools.