Tech Giants Unite to Standardize AI Payments in Web3 Ecosystem

The x402 Foundation has been established by a group of prominent technology companies, including the Linux Foundation and Coinbase, to standardize agent-based AI payments in crypto and fiat infrastructures.

According to sources, the founding members of the x402 Foundation include tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Cloudflare, Shopify, Stripe, Circle, Base, Polygon Labs, Solana Foundation, Thirdweb, and KakaoPay.

The x402 protocol combines the HTTP 402 'Payment Required' status code with Ethereum Improvement Proposal 3009 (EIP-3009) to enable AI agents to transfer funds without manual approval. This enables micropayments on fast chains like Solana.

The protocol supports ERC-4337 account abstraction to minimize gas fees and becomes compatible with Solana's Proof-of-History mechanism.