What the players in AI and ecommerce ship and publish that does not fit the protocol pages: News (launches, specs, policies) and Studies with numbers. One paragraph per item, newest first, each linked to its official source. Studies always link the original report and show who published and paid for it, the sample and the period. Also available as an RSS feed and as JSON.
2026
- NewsShopify
Shopify Checkout MCP and Cart MCP support UCP buyer consent #
- 3Cart and checkout
- 5Trust and identity
Shopify's Checkout MCP and Cart MCP now support the UCP buyer consent extension on UCP 2026-08-25. Agents can show a shop's own consent options, such as email or SMS marketing, and pass the buyer's choices with cart, checkout and order. Without consent input, Shopify applies the shop's country defaults; missing contact data can block checkout.
Checkout MCP and Cart MCP now support the UCP buyer consent extension (dev.ucp.shopping.buyer_consent) starting with UCP 2026-08-25.
- NewsGlance (InMobi), PayPal
PayPal brings agentic commerce checkout to Glance #
- 2Product data
- 3Cart and checkout
- 4Payment
Glance, an AI shopping app pre-installed on phones, integrated PayPal's agentic commerce services for real-time product data and native in-app checkout in the US. Glance says it runs on more than 60 million mobile and CTV devices.
Glance, an AI-powered personal shopping platform backed by global technology company InMobi, today announced an agentic commerce integration with PayPal, bringing real-time product data and native checkout directly to Glance for tens of millions of consumers in the United States.
- NewsGoogle, Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair, Shopify merchants
Google launches Universal Cart with UCP checkout in Search and Gemini #
- 1Discovery
- 3Cart and checkout
- 4Payment
Google rolled out Universal Cart in the US across Search and the Gemini app. It saves products from multiple retailers, alerts on price drops and restocks via the Shopping Graph, suggests payment methods using Google Wallet card perks, and offers Google Pay checkout powered by UCP or handoff to merchant sites, with merchants remaining seller of record.
The cart is built on the 60+ billion continually refreshed product listings in Google's Shopping Graph.
- NewsWix, Stripe
Symphony by Wix lets its agents pay through Link's wallet for agents #
- 4Payment
- 5Trust and identity
Wix connected its Symphony multi-agent system for small businesses to Link, Stripe's wallet for agents. Symphony's agents can now pay supplier invoices, reorder stock and cover fees, with the owner approving each purchase first. Rollout is for users with a US-based Link account, payments in US dollars.
The connection is rolling out to Symphony users with a US-based Link account, with payments made in US dollars.
- NewsBooking Holdings
Booking Holdings launches Vayo, a personal travel agent #
- 1Discovery
- 6Post-purchase
Booking Holdings launched Vayo, an AI personal travel agent in private beta that pulls reservations from the user's inbox, fills gaps and watches prices. Booking plans to invest up to $100M, subject to progress. Direct booking is planned but not yet live.
In the months ahead, Vayo plans to add direct booking, launch a native app and make it possible to plan trips with travel companions.
- StudyVendor researchChainalysis
Chainalysis counts over 138 million x402 transactions on Base #
- 4Payment
Chainalysis' North America chapter of its Geography of Crypto report says over 138 million x402 transactions had occurred on Base by the end of its 2026 period. Over 87% were between a hundredth of a cent and ten cents. US wallets account for 88.1% of geolocated AI model inference transactions on x402.
By the end of the 2026 period over 138 million x402 transactions had occurred on Base, the most popular blockchain for agentic commerce.
- Publisher
- Chainalysis
- Funded by
- Chainalysis (no external funder stated)
- Sample
- On-chain x402 transactions on Base
- Period
- Up to September 2026 (exact window for the 138M figure not stated)
- NewsAmerican Express
American Express publishes its Intent Intelligence framework #
- 4Payment
- 5Trust and identity
American Express published its Intent Intelligence framework, its recommended way to capture and authenticate a shopper's purchase intent before an AI agent completes a transaction. The intent then acts as a control through the transaction. It is part of the Amex Agentic Commerce Experiences (ACE) Developer Kit. Amex also says it supports the x402 Foundation's work.
- NewsOpenAI
OpenAI documents OAI-AdsBot for ChatGPT ads #
- 1Discovery
OpenAI lists a new crawler, OAI-AdsBot, that checks the safety of landing pages submitted as ads on ChatGPT and may use their content to decide when an ad is relevant. It only visits pages submitted as ads, and OpenAI says its data is not used to train foundation models. The date is when the docs page was updated.
- NewsShopify
Shopify opens Shop MCP to any agent #
- 1Discovery
- 3Cart and checkout
- 4Payment
Shopify launched Shop MCP at mcp.shop.com, with a skill file any MCP agent can read. One connection gives 17 tools to search Shopify Catalog, build carts and complete Shop Pay checkout for a signed-in shopper after they confirm. Search needs no API key. Orders appear in the merchant's Shopify admin. There are no webhooks at launch.
- NewsStripe, OpenAI, Meta
Stripe names Meta as an ACP co-creator #
- 3Cart and checkout
Stripe's docs now describe the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) as an open standard created by Stripe, OpenAI and Meta, and point to agenticcommerce.dev for the full specification. The page shows no date; we first saw this wording on 13 Oct 2026.
- NewsSierra, Meta, Adyen, Mastercard, OpenAI, PayPal, Visa
Draft Personal Agent Protocol (Poppy) published with 35 design partners #
- 5Trust and identity
Sierra published a draft of Personal Agent Protocol, known as Poppy, and named 35 additional design partners, including Adyen, Bank of America, Cloudflare, Mastercard, OpenAI, PayPal, Target and Visa.
So today we’re publishing a draft of Personal Agent Protocol, known as Poppy, and announcing an additional 35 design partners
- NewsSierra, Meta, Genesys, Instinct, Rocket, Shopify, Stripe, Walmart
Sierra and Meta announce Personal Agent Protocol #
- 5Trust and identity
Sierra and Meta announced Personal Agent Protocol, an open standard for how personal agents interact with businesses, covering authentication, consumer control and company visibility into agent actions. It is open for anyone to implement.
today we’re excited to announce Personal Agent Protocol
- NewsShopify
Shopify checkout supports WebMCP tools for browser agents #
- 3Cart and checkout
Shopify added WebMCP tools to checkout, so browser agents can read and update the active checkout in the buyer's browser session: navigate to the storefront, get and update checkout, and complete it after buyer confirmation. Control goes back to the buyer when input is needed, such as 3D Secure. No new API or merchant configuration is required.
Browser agents can now read and update Shopify checkouts using WebMCP tools for checkout.
- NewsAnt International, Mastercard, Visa
Ant International, Mastercard and Visa start Know-Your-Agent collaboration #
- 5Trust and identity
The three companies began work on a Know-Your-Agent interoperability framework to streamline agent onboarding and identification across networks. It builds on Visa's Trusted Agent Protocol, Mastercard Verifiable Intent and Ant's Agentic Mobile Protocol. No spec yet.
Ant International, Mastercard, and Visa have begun collaboration on a Know-Your-Agent (KYA) interoperability framework
- NewsUCP maintainers
UCP release v2026-08-25 prepares Food and Lodging #
- 2Product data
- 3Cart and checkout
- 4Payment
The v2026-08-25 release refactors UCP for multiple verticals, adds grocery readiness with location search and fractional quantities, and adds 3DS2 authentication flows and independent capability versioning.
Foundation laid for supporting Food and Lodging verticals alongside Shopping
- NewsMCP maintainers
MCP spec revision 2026-07-28 goes stable #
The 2026-07-28 revision of the Model Context Protocol specification was released as stable.
This release marks the stable release of the 2026-07-28 revision of the Model Context Protocol.
- NewsVisa, lastminute.com, Frasers, Cleverbridge, BrickDepot
Visa runs live agentic transactions across Europe #
- 4Payment
At the Visa Payments Forum in Paris, Visa announced live agentic commerce transactions across Europe through Visa Intelligent Commerce, with over 30 European issuers and merchants including lastminute.com and Frasers.
working with over 30 European issuers to enable AI agents to make purchases on behalf of cardholders
- NewsProof, Circle
Proof launches x401, an open protocol for verifying who is behind AI agents #
- 5Trust and identity
Proof launched x401, an open protocol that lets a website or API ask an agent for proof of who authorized it, such as verified identity, age or membership, before granting access. The agent answers with a verifiable credential. Payment stays with HTTP 402 protocols such as x402. Circle co-endorses x401 and co-edits the spec.
Today, Proof, the identity authorization company, launched x401, an open, issuer-neutral protocol that lets any website or API ask for and verify the identity behind agents.
- NewsMastercard, Adyen, Ant International, Checkout.com, Cloudflare, Coinbase, Stripe, Tempo
Mastercard launches Agent Pay for Machines #
- 4Payment
Mastercard introduced Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M) for fast, programmatic machine-to-machine payments, some fractions of a cent, settled across its network. More than 30 companies, including Adyen, Cloudflare, Coinbase, Stripe and Tempo, are early supporters.
Today, the company is introducing Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new service that will allow these transactions to be permissioned, orchestrated and settled at machine speed
- NewsA2A project
A2A v1.0.1 released #
A2A v1.0.1 is a bug-fix release, preferring application/a2a+json in the HTTP binding and correcting TaskStatus values in the spec.
spec: prefer application/a2a+json in HTTP binding
- NewsGoogle, FIDO Alliance, Mastercard
Google donates AP2 to FIDO Alliance and releases v0.2 #
- 4Payment
- 5Trust and identity
Google is donating AP2 to the FIDO Alliance and released AP2 v0.2 on GitHub, adding Human Not Present payments based on pre-authorized user instructions. Verifiable Intent, co-developed with Mastercard, is also being donated to FIDO.
we’re donating the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) to the FIDO Alliance
- NewsACP maintainers
ACP spec version 2026-04-17 released #
- 3Cart and checkout
- 4Payment
ACP version 2026-04-17 promotes all unreleased changes since 2026-01-30, including 3DS authentication examples and error and multi-item checkout examples. Version 2026-01-30 is deprecated.
This release promotes the accumulated unreleased ACP changes since 2026-01-30.
- NewsOpenAI, Walmart
OpenAI shifts ACP to product discovery and lets merchants use their own checkout #
- 1Discovery
- 2Product data
OpenAI expanded ACP to support product discovery with richer, visual shopping in ChatGPT. It said the first version of Instant Checkout lacked flexibility, so merchants can use their own checkout while OpenAI focuses on discovery. Walmart launched an in-ChatGPT app.
To power this, we’re expanding the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) to support product discovery
- NewsStripe, Tempo, Browserbase, PostalForm
Stripe and Tempo launch the Machine Payments Protocol #
- 4Payment
Stripe launched MPP, an open standard co-authored with Tempo for agents to pay programmatically, including microtransactions and recurring payments. Stripe users can accept MPP via PaymentIntents, in stablecoins or in fiat with cards and buy now, pay later via Shared Payment Tokens.
we’re launching the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), an open standard, internet-native way for agents to pay
- NewsMastercard, Google
Mastercard and Google introduce Verifiable Intent #
- 4Payment
- 5Trust and identity
Mastercard introduced Verifiable Intent, co-developed with Google, an open trust layer that creates a tamper-resistant record of what a user authorized an agent to do. It aligns with AP2 and UCP and was open-sourced on GitHub and verifiableintent.dev, with integration into Agent Pay planned.
Today, Mastercard is open-sourcing the Verifiable Intent specification and an initial reference implementation on GitHub and at verifiableintent.dev.
- NewsGoogle, Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, Walmart
Google launches the Universal Commerce Protocol #
- 1Discovery
- 3Cart and checkout
- 4Payment
- 6Post-purchase
Google launched UCP at NRF 2026 as an open standard for agentic commerce across discovery, buying and post-purchase, co-developed with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart and compatible with A2A, AP2 and MCP. Google said UCP would soon power checkout in AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app for eligible US retailers, who remain seller of record.
Today, we’re launching the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a new open standard for agentic commerce that works across the entire shopping journey
2025
- NewsAnthropic, Block, OpenAI, Linux Foundation
MCP donated to the Agentic AI Foundation #
Anthropic donated MCP to the Agentic AI Foundation, a directed fund under the Linux Foundation co-founded by Anthropic, Block and OpenAI, with support from Google, Microsoft, AWS, Cloudflare and Bloomberg.
Today, we’re donating the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF), a directed fund under the Linux Foundation
- NewsPayPal, Wix, Cymbio, Commerce, Shopware, Perplexity
PayPal launches agentic commerce services including agent ready #
- 2Product data
- 4Payment
PayPal launched agentic commerce services: agent ready, which lets existing PayPal merchants accept payments on AI surfaces with fraud detection and buyer protection, and store sync, which makes product data discoverable in AI channels.
PayPal will be introducing an agentic payments solution called agent ready, which instantly unlocks for the millions of existing PayPal merchants the ability to accept payments on AI surfaces.
- NewsVisa, Cloudflare
Visa introduces Trusted Agent Protocol #
- 5Trust and identity
Visa unveiled Trusted Agent Protocol, developed with Cloudflare, so merchants can verify legitimate AI agents and tell them apart from malicious bots during checkout. The spec is available in the Visa Developer Center and on GitHub.
developed in collaboration with Cloudflare
- NewsStripe, OpenAI, Etsy, Shopify
Stripe and OpenAI launch ACP with Instant Checkout in ChatGPT #
- 3Cart and checkout
- 4Payment
Stripe and OpenAI introduced the Agentic Commerce Protocol, an open standard powering Instant Checkout in ChatGPT. US ChatGPT users could buy from US Etsy sellers, with over a million Shopify merchants coming soon. The specification was published the same day.
Instant Checkout is powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), a new open standard codeveloped by Stripe and OpenAI
- NewsCloudflare, Coinbase
Cloudflare and Coinbase create the x402 Foundation #
- 4Payment
Cloudflare partnered with Coinbase to create the x402 Foundation to drive x402 adoption, and shipped x402 support in its Agents SDK and MCP integrations plus a proposed deferred payment scheme.
Cloudflare is partnering with Coinbase to create the x402 Foundation.
- NewsGoogle, Adyen, American Express, Mastercard, PayPal, Coinbase
Google announces the Agent Payments Protocol #
- 4Payment
- 5Trust and identity
Google announced AP2, an open protocol for agent-led payments across platforms, usable as an extension of A2A and MCP and payment-agnostic. More than 60 organizations collaborated, including Adyen, American Express, Coinbase, Etsy, Mastercard and PayPal.
Today, Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open protocol developed with leading payments and technology companies to securely initiate and transact agent-led payments across platforms.
- NewsGoogle, Linux Foundation, AWS, Cisco, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow
Google donates A2A to the Linux Foundation #
The Linux Foundation formed the Agent2Agent project with AWS, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP and ServiceNow, seeded with Google's transfer of the A2A spec, SDKs and tooling. More than 100 companies supported the protocol.
The project will be hosted by the Linux Foundation and will be seeded with Google’s transfer of the groundbreaking Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol specification
- NewsCloudflare
Cloudflare proposes cryptographic authentication for bots and agents #
- 5Trust and identity
Cloudflare proposed two standards, HTTP message signatures and request mTLS, so legitimate bots and agents can prove who they are instead of relying on user agents and IP ranges.
for friendly bots to authenticate themselves
- NewsCoinbase
Coinbase launches x402 #
- 4Payment
Coinbase launched x402, an open payment protocol that uses the HTTP 402 Payment Required status code to embed instant stablecoin payments in web requests, so APIs, apps and AI agents can pay directly.
Coinbase is launching x402, a payment protocol that enables instant stablecoin payments directly over HTTP.
- NewsVisa, Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Samsung, Stripe
Visa launches Visa Intelligent Commerce #
- 4Payment
Visa introduced Visa Intelligent Commerce at its Global Product Drop, opening its payment network to developers building AI agents that find and buy on consumers' behalf, within limits each consumer sets.
Introduced today at the Visa Global Product Drop, Visa Intelligent Commerce enables AI to find and buy.
- NewsMastercard, Microsoft
Mastercard unveils Agent Pay #
- 4Payment
Mastercard launched its Agentic Payments Program, Mastercard Agent Pay, introducing Mastercard Agentic Tokens built on its tokenization technology. It will work with Microsoft first, with other AI platforms to follow.
Mastercard today announced the launch of its Agentic Payments Program, Mastercard Agent Pay.
- NewsGoogle, PayPal, Salesforce, SAP
Google launches the Agent2Agent protocol #
Google launched A2A, an open protocol for AI agents to communicate, exchange information securely and coordinate actions, with more than 50 technology partners including Atlassian, PayPal, Salesforce and SAP.
Today, we’re launching a new, open protocol called Agent2Agent (A2A), with support and contributions from more than 50 technology partners
2024
- NewsAnthropic
Anthropic open-sources the Model Context Protocol #
Anthropic open-sourced MCP, an open standard connecting AI assistants to the systems where data lives, with a specification, SDKs, local server support in Claude Desktop and a repository of MCP servers.
Today, we're open-sourcing the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a new standard for connecting AI assistants to the systems where data lives
Last checked: