SAN FRANCISCO — The Linux Foundation has formally launched the x402 Foundation, a new open-governance organization that will oversee an internet payment protocol designed to enable secure financial transactions between artificial intelligence agents, applications and web services, according to the Linux Foundation.
The nonprofit organization said the launch also completes the contribution of the x402 protocol by Coinbase, placing development of the technology under vendor-neutral governance.
According to the Linux Foundation, the x402 protocol embeds payment capabilities directly into standard web interactions over HTTP, allowing AI agents, application programming interfaces (APIs) and software applications to send and receive payments as easily as they exchange data. The protocol is designed to support multiple payment methods, including traditional payment cards and stablecoins.
‘Vital Milestone’
“AI agents and automated systems are becoming active participants in the global economy, yet they have lacked a native, secure way to transact,” Linux Foundation CEO Jim Zemlin said in a statement. “The operational launch of the x402 Foundation marks a vital milestone in establishing an open, community-governed standard for payments over HTTP.”
The Linux Foundation said the new organization will allow developers, financial institutions, cloud providers and other stakeholders to collaboratively guide the protocol’s future development while ensuring interoperability and avoiding dependence on any single technology vendor.
The foundation said 40 organizations have joined since plans for the initiative were announced in April.
Premier Members
Premier members include:
- Amazon Web Services
- American Express
- Circle
- Cloudflare
- Coinbase
- Fiserv
- Mastercard
- MoonPay
- Ripple
- Shopify
- Stripe
- Visa
Additional members include blockchain organizations, payment technology companies and financial infrastructure providers, according to the Linux Foundation.
‘Common Payment Layer’
The organization said the protocol is intended to create a common payment layer for the internet as AI-powered applications become more autonomous and increasingly capable of conducting financial transactions on behalf of users and businesses.
The Linux Foundation said the x402 Foundation will continue developing the protocol under its open-source governance model with participation from companies across the payments, financial services, cloud computing and blockchain sectors.
