Nevermined, the AI Payments Protocol
Currently, the AI agent landscape is dominated by isolated builders. Commercializing these agents leads AI builders to develop clunky, bespoke payments solutions that neither scale nor integrate with other agents. In particular, builders struggle with the infrastructure needed to translate usage into settlements, and so end up with suboptimal solutions, often underwriting their users’ cost of usage.
The AI environment is reminiscent of the early Internet, during which only hardcore hobbyists were willing to transact online. As with e-commerce back then, a new, native built solution is required to enable the explosion of this distinct commercial ecosystem.
More existential, the threat to AI from centralized, monopolistic and predatory forces must be addressed. A decentralized approach to AI must recognize that payments represent a singular chokepoint for any agent. Should a centralized monopoly emerge in control of agent payment infrastructure, that monopoly’s ability to deplatform any agent will be singular, with an agent ceasing to exist at will. In fact, Nevermined is of the opinion that it doesn’t matter how decentralized the rest of the AI stack becomes; if the means of payment are centralized, effectively so are the agents themselves.
Nevermined aims to fundamentally address the problem by becoming the PayPal of AI-to-AI interactions. The protocol will be a trustless engine for AI-Commerce, driving the transactions of trillions of new agent-based consumers.